The Day In Hindsight
by TellMeWhy
Summary: Two rather average girls embark on a most extrodinary journey, as their world is conquered and they are chosen as Padawans to two of the most powerful men in the galaxy. Twisted morals abound, and love is often the biggest illusion of all.
1. Chapter 1: Separete Ways Worlds Apart

The day, in hindsight, had none of the characteristics you would expect of a black-letter day. There was no odd-colored sky, failed attempts at making toast or mysteriously opened tea packets. It started out a normal day, only odd in its extreme normality. The bus was late (as usual), they'd forgotten parts of their homework (as usual), and there was even the normal amount of traffic around their lockers. It was hardly a more appropriate day for them to learn the truth regarding life, the universe and everything. Unfortunately, it did not involve any cute dancing dolphins.

"I really hate school sometimes," one of the pair said to the other, fighting through a crowd of pseudo-punks to get to her space.

Her friend laughed. "When don't you?" There was a pause as the first tried to think of something. She failed.

"Fine, so maybe I don't have your mad happy skills. But I **do** have mad puppet skills. Pierre could eat you for me."

"Oh, I'm so afraid! Katie's mad French Scottish marionette's going on a rampage!"

They continued their light-hearted banter down the hall, discussing topics ranging from sexual orientation, drug abuse and illegal activity. It was a good thing no one was listening, and that those who did didn't take them seriously. Or the local juvenile hall would be granted the pleasure of their frequent company. But before they could get to any of the punch lines, and before they parted company for classes, there was a most peculiar announcement over the out-dated intercom.

"Will all students please file into the nearest classroom with a TV. There will be a video presentation in all of the teacher's mailboxes. Watch it, and when it is done, proceed immediately to the auditorium for an audience."

Almost immediate anarchy began in the halls, as students tried to follow the directions. Of course, quite a few of them took the opportunity to hook up in the bathrooms, or to indulge in a quick make out session in a subsequently empty classroom. Katie grabbed her friend's backpack strap, trying to keep them from being yanked apart in the chaos. They finally found safety inside a French room, where at least fifteen other students crowded around the screen, waiting for what would explain this confusion.

"I bet the President got assassinated!" Called one excited sophomore. "You know, like Kennedy!"

"It's the Russians! They're going to nuke us!" yelled another, eyes shining with conspiracy theories.

"No, they've made contact with aliens! It's an attack, and we're all going to die." Observed another more morbid character. Theories were flying fast and thick, ranging from the probable ("it's a new safety procedure") to the highly unlikely ("They've found Bigfoot inside school grounds!"). As it turned out, it was our dark friend who was closest, as the screen finally crackled to life.

The picture was a bit grainy and ill-focused, more like an old movie picture than anything. It was a grey White House, a familiar place everyone could describe even if they'd never been to Pennsylvania Avenue. But the immense black oblong hovering about it was not. Glittering suspiciously in the glare, it descended upon the restricted airspace, bypassing the military's finest without a second thought.

"Independence Day!" Someone gasped. "War of the Worlds!" Another breathed. Katie found Mel's hand and grabbed it, fear twisting her insides. This was all too surreal to be actually happening, it just couldn't be. Aliens didn't attack on school days, not boring normal ones! Shouldn't there have been more of a… a feel to the day if the planet was to explode later on? Mel squeezed her friend's hand back, wondering where the rest of their pack was. They should be watching their doom together…

But obviously the aliens, or whatever they were, didn't feel like waiting for convenience. A hatch, much like an ordinary Lamborghini door, opened from the ship's side. A silver walkway extended, and a tall black-shiny figure stepped out into the light. The video's audio finally crackled to life, breaking the deafening silence. "September twenty third, two thousand and five. They landed at twelve oh six, local time." There was a collective mummer, as the watchers realized that this was actually footage from four days ago. An attack concealed for half a week? In this age of instant communications it was unthinkable.

"As amazing as this sounds," The reporter continued, sounding scared out of his life. He seemed youngish, and the universal plea 'I'm too young to die' was apparent in his voice. "The Earth is not alone. In fact, we've been part of an intergalactic republic for some time, though we've never participated." The footage zoomed in on the black semi-robotic figure as it raised a hand to one of the many Marines crowding the roof. "In a gesture of goodwill, the Emperor of this… this thing, has sent us his right-hand man to request our participation in person. I give you Darth Vader." The voice-over cut off abruptly, as the picture plummeted as though the cameraman has fallen out of the tree he'd been perching on. The view was reduced to a close-up of a few blades of grass, and a series of pairs of white, plastic feet. A crackle of static, a single noise like that of something from laser tag, and with a small grunt of pain the picture went dead.

The students had just begun to fill the void with shocked chatter when a deep, chilling voice took over the narration. "To all those concerned, your own forms of government are now null and void. The Republic will set up an alternate form agreeing with our standards, and all students of all ages with be screened for any signs of useful aptitude. Other than that, what you do on your own time is your own concern. Do not try to resist this takeover, force will be used as necessary and any damage will not be repaid."

Katie shivered, half out of fear and the other out of excitement. It was the most surreal thing that had ever happened to them. It seemed like something from a book, or a role-play they'd created, not something that could actually happen.

The announcements crackled to life again. "Will all freshmen please proceed to the auditorium. Do to size constraints; you will all be called down by year. All other students sit tight and prepare yourselves, you will be called down in good time."

Grabbing their bags, the girls left the foreign language room and began trying to fight their way through the throng to the staircase. The rest of the freshmen looked as tense as they were, except for the shallow groups that didn't really care either way as long as they kept Abercrombie open.

The auditorium was rather packed, as people tried to find their friends or romantic partners and seat themselves accordingly. Of course, there were the few left out by the masses, which grouped together in the back. Katie and Mel sat with the rest of their posse, and unfortunately ended up in the extreme front row. The chattering grew to a crescendo, the buzzing sounding much like a hive of excited bees. It was cut short by an appearance on stage.

He did not simply appear; nor did he walk on. He seemed to simply exist there, like he had done so for ages and they had simply not noticed him. But surely it would have been impossible to do so, for he was dressed outlandishly (or, out**world**ly, one supposed). The many layers of lighter and darker shades of neutral, coupled with an imposing air made him not someone you would pass lightly in a crowd. He was handsome; it was obvious, though he looked downtrodden. There were circles under his eyes and new lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes, as though he'd been working hard at a job he did not enjoy.

"I trust you've all been paying close attention to the happenings of the last hour. As the Galactic Empire currently employs me, I am here to begin a screening process. No, it's quite simple." His voice was even, and had an eerie resemblance to a British accent for someone from light-years away. "I trust you all have notebooks and pencils. You are to write an essay, with a minimum of two pages, about your personal feelings towards the governmental system of an empire." There was a pause, filled with many moans of irritation and quite a few groans of acceptance. "And yes, I _will_ know if you do not hand one in by the end of the hour. And the same word repeated over and over again is not an essay, and I will personally see to it that you write one after school." There was another pause, as everyone digested that last threat. "What are you waiting for? The hour starts now."

The hour went surprisingly quick, the subject was actually rather interesting if you applied yourself. Katie's essay was a decidedly neutral one, she presented both sides and said not a single word as to whether she personally liked it or not, though she hinted towards the latter. Mel's was similar, but it was more out of character for a normally opinionated person. Katie, on the other hand, was rather notorious for never answering a question straight. Few others tread such a thin line; most everyone else's was openly damning of such a system.

Getting up to leave, the students formed a single-file line to hand their papers to the speaker himself. Mel was ahead of her friend in the line, and gave him a small, polite smile as she did so, and got a shock on the hand in return. Katie did not look him in the face, just sort of at his neck level. Apparently those many layers were of wool, as she too received a sharp shock upon touching his hand.

Later, as they compared notes, they found themselves the only two to have gotten the sting.

"Odd." Mel contemplated, rubbing her palm.

"Agreed." Katie stopped eyeing her hand suspiciously, and turned to her friend, quirking an eyebrow. "Something's not right."

It wouldn't have been very reassuring if she'd known how very right (yet how very wrong) she was at that moment.

- - -

"I think its without a doubt, one of the best (and might I add, only) options we have." It was a random techy, one of the unnamed 'red-shirt' employees there to keep the starship moving and under control.

"There is always another option." The other voice was unfamiliar. It had the same phrasing and accents as that heard on the tape that morning, but it was definitely not as deep. "And I did not ask for your opinion. I asked for the facts."

The techy tried to back away without being noticed, though he was now in the view of the doorway. "But, sir, Advisor Kenobi said-" Spontaneously and without being touched in any visible way, the youngish man flew four feet backwards and hit the wall rather painfully.

"**I** am the one in charge here, and **I** am the one you are to take orders from for now on." If possible, the other voice went even colder. "Now leave me, and go reconfigure the passwords."

"Yes, sir!" The man scrambled to his feet, bowing hastily as if he was afraid his master would change his mind. "It won't happen again, no sir."

Lord Vader, as this other was known as, merely chuckled chillingly. "And if it does…you won't be able to repeat it." As soon as the hapless hireling had left earshot, he stopped laughing and regained his aura of irritation. "If he interferes with my authority one more time…"

"You'll kill me?" It was the speaker from the school audience, looking like he was almost enjoying the liberty to piss off the dictator. "Might be a good idea, after all."

"And why might that be? You're no good to me dead." It was, uniquely, an opponent he couldn't simply toss against a wall and threaten.

"True. But if I'm gone I can't incite rebellion." Advisor Obi-wan Kenobi (as his full title went) grinned mirthlessly. "Or fulfill my dream of restoring the republic." _And seeing you dead_, he added mentally. No need to let him in on that.

"But you haven't done much to that alive, now, have you?" While Obi-wan was in the same outfit as earlier; Vader was sans armor and dressed instead in a similar style, but in monochromatic black. He too was handsome, though his hair was curlier and there was a roguish scar running through his right eyebrow. "Were there any potentials in your travels?"

"It's a static planet, in a static system. I've got two that seem rather strong, but that's out of nearly fifty thousand screened so far." Obi-wan tossed the essays onto his superior's desk. "Do you want me to make formal contact, _Lord Vader_?" He'd managed to imbibe the title with as much scorn as possible. "Or shall I wait on your word?"

"As soon as possible, once I review." Vader looked up from the papers, and gave his advisor a look of thinly veiled anger. "_As I've told you before, call me Anakin_."

Obi-wan just laughed. "Anakin Skywalker is dead." With that elegant parting shot, he strode from the room with purpose.

Sighing to himself, the man known once as the Jedi Anakin Skywalker looked back at the papers. Ignoring what ever was written there, he waved a hand over them. Slowly a small, flickering blue image of the authors rose from their words, showing what they were doing at the current moment.

Conveniently, they were in the same area. Namely, Katie's backyard…

- - -

Being a large area with more trees than it really should have had, Katie's yard was an ideal place to play their favorite game… 'Run around and whack each other with a stick'. Of course, being a highly technologically advanced and civilized game, it had some strict rules. Namely, that there were to be no damaging of the eyeballs, and that there were to be no other rules. Making an actual mark was discouraged, as it just screamed 'parental abuse'.

Katie was on her back under a bush, inching her way slowly towards the large pine tree. The pine needles did not provide a very comfy cushion, and her back itched abominably. Another foot to go… reaching up, she grabbed a low-hanging branch and flipped herself up on to it. It was a smoothly executed move that normally would have bordered on physically impossible, except for someone with far more muscles than the girl. With a small pant, she grinned with a flush of victory; she looked up and was about to each for Mel's flag…

"Not so fast." The knobby end of a stick poked over her shoulder, nudging her ear. "My flag, my tree… and I got you." The other girl seemed to have appeared surprisingly quickly, she wasn't panting or anything and there'd been no sounds of running.

Katie made a face. "You win to often, and when you don't you complain about how much I cheated." She hopped off the branch, leaning on her stick like a cane.

"But still you ask me back for more. Masochist." Mel's grin widened. She enjoyed winning, and was the sort of charismatic, driven person who generally did. She shooed Katie off. "Back to your own base… I want to play again!"

"Fine…" Katie looked a bit put out, and she slunk off to a tree on the other side of Mel's.

_Katie always puts her flag in the same spot… in the little knothole_, Mel thought, planning her attack. Suddenly, there was a sharp jab to her kidneys. "Ouch!"

"Got you now," Commented Katie smugly. "You're dead. So **I** win this time."

Mel sighed. "You really have no honor, do you? Backstabbing your best friend?" She should have seen this coming; Katie'd done it more than once before.

Katie shrugged, putting the stick down. "All is fair in love and war."

"Since when is this war?"

"Since you declared a tuft of pine needles a flag!"

Laughing, the two friends abandoned their game in favor of chilling down by a brook that ran by Katie's house. The sticks, however, were carefully stored in a special fork of the tree, so that they could find them later. Good sticks really took a long time to find…

- - -

_They do look promising_, the Sith thought to himself, closing the images. _Obi-wan might actually have something here…_ Not surprisingly, he found himself favoring one over the other. He wasn't looking for a trainee with morals, and even simple everyday duplicity pointed towards the mindset he wanted. And having a pair was rather convenient. _Obi-wan would have made a fuss over any apprentice I chose, and giving him his own just makes things easier. Besides, if I can turn one, I can do both_.

Absently running his fingers over the papers, he emptied his mind. There was the evidence of power here; the hands that wrote these words obviously held more power than they knew. It was a good thing they did come from a static world, in the absence of schooling they both would have managed to cause some very memorable disasters.

Unformed, powerful and more than reasonably attractive… they were the ideal padawans.

It was nearly dark before they managed to finish putting up the tent. It had been already dusk before they'd started, and so they'd lost several poles, misplaced the pegs and accidentally used the rain cover as a ground cover. It was a small, blue, two-man tent; after all it was just the two of them out there in the night.

Stretching out on her sleeping bag, Mel wiggled comfortably. "You know… I'm not all that tired, and since it's dark and all… wouldn't it be a great time to play manhunt?"

"But there's only two of us…" Katie wasn't sure if she liked the idea yet, but she'd try most things Mel suggested once.

"Well, more like a sort of hide-and-go-seek… you get the idea, right?" Mel had an unfortunate habit of creating such mad schemes rather too often for anybody's well being. Even more unfortunately, there were enough people who trusted her enough to follow them.

"Ach, why not? I'm not ready to go to sleep either." Katie hereby renquilished her title of 'the smart one'.

It was completely and fully dark, the moon being new and the stars fainter than usual. An obnoxious street lamp kept the black from being absolute, but it was more than dark enough for their purposes.

Katie elected to be the first one to hide, creeping off as quietly as she could while Mel counted (in Spanish) to twenty-one. Fir once she was thankful of the early autumn chill, her sweatshirt was the right color for helping her blend with the shadows. The hood was useful as well, her violent paleness usually gave her away easily. Finding the large fire-bush she knelt behind it, averting her face and tensing to stay still. At least the coyotes were quiet; they sounded terrifyingly close when they howled so late at night.

"Veinte y uno!" Mel called, voice echoing slightly in the thin air. The average person, upon watching their game, would have wondered what chance she had at all. Katie had made nearly no noise at all when she'd moved, and the darkness was nearly absolute. But they hadn't won the attentions of the otherworldly government for selling Girl Scout cookies. They knew they had some unusual skills, but the extent of which (at least, on their home planet) was nothing to freak out about.

Mel took deep breaths, concentrating on the _feel_ of the air. She could feel her own breathing and the swells of the air currents as they passed along. There wasn't much else out that night, a few late bats swirling around over her head. There! Breathing, a disturbance in the air. It was near the trellis, behind a bush swaying gently with the rhythm.

"Very nicely done. Now go find your friend, and come back. There's something of utmost importance I have to tell you." It was Obi-wan himself. He'd done his little appearing-trick again, this time two feet to Mel's right. "Go on."

Mel gasped belatedly, backing in the opposite direction. "What are you doing here? What do you want?" She paused. "Who are you? How do you know where we live?"

"All in good time. Suffice to say I'm not here to rape, murder, and torture or otherwise harm you physically or mentally. I found out where your friend Kathryn Abell lives by using that thing you call a phone book, and it was only a matter of time before I found the opportune moment to make contact." He supposed he needed to get away from Vader more often. He was having just way too much fun with this.

"Erm." It was the sort of highly articulate and coherent sentence that her _friend_, not her, was in the habit of making. But there were few that could blame her, after all how often did your world get taken over and mysterious strangers materialize in your best friend's backyard? In the dark?

He sighed. "Do you speak English poorly, or was that just an expression of your mind overloading?"

This time Mel's tongue obeyed her mind and she made a face at him. "How about I find out where you live, show up in your yard at midnight and let **you** try to talk. Now unless you have something very important to say you are going to go very far away, right now."

"How ironic then that I do have something very important to tell you. Both of you." He made a shooing motion with his hands. "Now go get your friend from behind the bush, she's probably confused to death. I promise I'll stay right here." He waved hand expressively at the mossy tree trunk.

Melissa stood her ground, crossing her arms defiantly. "I'm not having you at my back, promises or none."

He sighed, ceding victory. "Fine." Inwardly, he applauded. She was sensible enough under fire, if not particularly imaginative. But he had to give her credit for a most unusual situation.

True to Obi-wan's prediction, Katie was very confused. From in between the branches she could see her friend being accosted by some stranger, and she could hear faint scraps of conversation. So she'd been prepared for the worst when his head popped around her shrub.

She looked up, made eye contact… and frowned. "You again? What the hell are you doing in my backyard?"

He sighed. "Crude, but to the point. I was just about to explain, but I felt it would be best to consult both of you." He offered her a hand but she declined, using Mel's instead to pull herself up.

"See, after finishing the screening of your school I came to the conclusion that you two were the only possibilities. So, you both have been selected to participate in a sort of government training for those with special abilities."

"No." Mel's answer was her final one. "I have no idea what you're talking about, and I don't like it." She did actually have a bit of an idea, but it scared her more than the not knowing. It was much too _Escape To Witch Mountain_, Dean Koontz-esque for her taste.

He chuckled. "I'm sorry for phrasing it like a request. Its more of an… advance warning, as you really have no choice in the matter." He really needed to see some sort of therapist. He sounded nearly homicidal, and much, _much_ too much like Anakin.

"Then why are you bothering to explain? Which you're nor doing a very good job of?" Katie looked very confused, and like she was being pushed (along with Mel) into some bad Communist-scare police-state movie. Without her knowledge.

"Because there's a greater truth behind all this you don't know about yet, but you're parents will not be notified of. They'll just get an acceptance from a free, prestigious government private school. Which they'll be obliged to send you to." This would be the hard part, explaining something which he did not completely understand but which was as much a part of the three of them as their bones.

"You understand the whole other-planetary systems thing, right?" They nodded. "In these… other systems, there are new creatures, new plants, and new laws of physics. For example, what you call the 'law of gravity' would be called a 'rule of gravity' on most of them. Laws imply a penalty; rules are much more bendable, as is this force holding us down. You've probably felt it before, a sudden jump or jolt that should not have been possible.

"Perhaps that's a bad example. To the average person, though I am but two feet from you, I would appear as an indistinct blob of grey. But you can see me, even though it's nearly pitch-black. In fact, I think you could tell my exact facial features, what expressions I'm making… things lost upon the majority of Earthlings."

"So you're saying we're genetic freaks from another world?" Katie sounded interested despite her cynicism.

"No. What I'm saying is that you've been born endowed with the power to bend these rules. It's termed, imaginatively, The Force and it is what will define your entire life." He sounded beyond serious to passionate. "But in order to properly learn to use this gift, you have to leave the surface of this particular planet. Its what we call a 'static'… that somewhere in its cosmic making there was a glitch that turned the rules to laws. Children can still be born with the Force, but it doesn't manifest nearly as dramatically nor can it be used properly. It doesn't mature until about your age, fifteen or sixteen. Then it will slowly drain, leaving you as you begin to conform to the status of adulthood and accept the burdens of your planet."

"If we're going to lose it, and its so much more common in other worlds, why are you bothering with us?" Mel's voice, much to her chagrin, was not steady. She did not want to lose this 'gift' or whatever it was, not when she'd finally mastered it.

"Because if the gift can survive to this stage, you are already uncommonly strong. And you won't lose it, not if you come with me. There are more hospitable planets, and even the reaches of space are far enough from the static aura." This was the difficult part, trying to convince them to go along. It would be almost entirely against the grain of their upbringing to trust his word, and it would be an unfortunate experience if they had to be forced. "I can teach you how to use it beyond your imaginings… once you're out of this place, you'll understand what I mean! There are worlds to be experienced you'll never elsewise see, and a great deal to learn that you'll never know if you don't just believe me." Somehow, somewhere, he'd gone from convincing to pleading. He could see the doubt in their eyes, but there was curiosity as well.

"What does this… entail?" She wanted to believe, she really did. It would be a chance of a lifetime, something that she'd never sleep well about again. If it was true, that is. She could see curiosity in Katie's eyes, as it competed with doubt.

"You need do nothing now." He'd rightly guessed that it was the night itself that dampened them, nothing good could ever come upon a midnight dreary. "I merely wanted to warn you… before the letters arrive tomorrow. From there a meeting will be arraigned-"

"But we've already met you." Katie was ashamed to note her voice was not half as steady as Mel's, she was half-hoping half-dreading that she was dreaming.

He grimaced. "I am not the only one interested in training such an… asset, as two such like yourself are. Lord Vader himself has expressed interest in assisting, as well as possibly taking one of you as his own personal apprentice." He looked a tad uncomfortable, as he'd been expressly forbidden to mention the Sith-Jedi distinction when explaining it to them. Even with as much freedom as he had, he didn't want to risk flouting a direct order. "But that doesn't matter too much, you'll still be in the same building."

This next pause was awkward, no one was quite sure of what to say next.

Obi-wan sighed. "Whether you actually believe me or not is irrelevant. That you understand that you can't speak a word of this, and that you'll have to comply with the official orders is." He raised a hand, palm inwards. "And don't try to use what limited powers you have. It'll only make the process worse."

He them disappeared. It was like his many appearances. There was no flash, winking lights or smoke, he simply seemed to have been there (not have not been there) for ages.

"Wish I could do that…" Katie sounded wistful.

Mel made as much of a grin as she could summon. "What would you do with it? Appear behind people then jump on them?"

- - -

If they'd thought the outside was dark, the interior of the tent was even darker. But they'd brought a lamp/flashlight to brighten the oppression, as they were obviously even less inclined to sleep than before.

"So. Mel. What do you think? Do you believe it? Do you want to believe it?" She sounded far away, not physically but as if her mind was still trying to process this rather eventful evening.

"I don't know. I mean, you can't disappear with out some sort of power, right? And if we believe that part, then we have to believe the bit about not having a choice. And if we believe that, then it doesn't really matter because it'll just sweep us up anyway." Mel paused for a moment. "I want to believe. But its all so impossible."

Her friend nodded. "But so was everything else that happened this morning. If aliens or whatever we're going to call them can come out of the blue and take us over in a morning, and suppress the media, than who's to say they can't fly? Or pop in and out of thin air?" She sighed. "But I agree… it should be interesting, if nothing else."

"If nothing else… why do I have a feeling that boredom is going to be the least of out problems from now on? Providing he was telling the truth…"

This time the pause was a friendly, mutual expression of love-type one. Katie broke it first. "Come to think of it, he never did tell us his name."

"You're right. He didn't. Wonder why that is. Maybe we couldn't be able to pronounce it?"

"Or it translates to sexy flower, or something equally embarrassing?" The rest of the half-serious conversation dissolved into much-needed laughter. Of course, despite the number of good questions raised, exactly how the intruders from another world knew their language wasn't one.

Perhaps they knew it didn't have much of a good answer.

- - -

Obi-wan sat down heavily, putting his head in his hands. Things were shaping up all too nicely. When things began moving conveniently, that meant that there was some sort of horrible disaster in store for him sooner or later. Usually sooner, though he'd prefer never.

There were a few rebellions brewing, mostly from his own doings, and here were a few padawans ideal for a little bringing about the balance. He was still alive, the sort of thing that never ceased to amaze him (due to the amount of dealings he was doing behind Lord Vader's back) these days.

"Oh god," he murmured into his hands, feeling weary and very old. "I'm what, twenty one? And yet I feel eighty." He sighed. And to think, three years ago today he'd thought his life was looking up. General in the army, leading forces against the Separatists… his best friend at his side. "Its over. All of it. And you know what? Its all Padmé's fault." That was a little unfair, but nearly true. Part of it was his own; part of it his friend's… No. Most of it was his old friend's fault, and the rest was bad coincidence. But even bothering to assign blame was childish, as it really didn't matter. What had happened, happened.

Throwing off the cloak and yanking off his boots he flopped down miserably onto the bed. The entire room was white, the bed encased in it and coming like a soft shelf from the wall. Sending a vindictive glare to the artificial lights above his head, he willed them to shut off. For once, they did.

It was times like these that he wondered why he even bothered to go on. His very existence was forced, and if the stupid girl hadn't come running in at the last moment, he'd be dead. Blissfully so, and unaware of the current hell gripping his galaxy. He could almost see it now, the so-close descending laser beam… and her throwing herself in to the fray, taking the fatal blow while crying out a name. She'd gotten the better deal, no watching the eventual slide into darkness.

As he continued his contemplation of suicide, a mental image of the two soon-to-be apprentices sprang unbidden to his mind. They were watching him, eyes wide with confusion and lips pursed in skepticism at his words. He focused in on the stronger one, her hair falling gracefully into a face that spoke both curiosity and defiance. She'd taken a stance slightly in front of her friend, the sort of person always taking charge of the protection of the ones she loved. There were hints of steel in her eyes, and it was exactly what he wanted.

Perhaps he did have a future.

- - -

Vader paced his own quarters. They had not been able to schedule a formal introduction for another week, due to the ships current location in the nation's capital and at least a day by 'car' from the girls' hometown. Drawing a curtain that screened an already one-way window, he could nearly feel the many cameras focused this way, even though they couldn't see him. The news had finally been leaked to the press, who was having a field day with it. Republicans and Democrats alike were publicly declaring allegiance whenever in earshot, while not quite as publicly damning the whole affair when far enough away.

This particular country ran on a time zone completely different from the one he was used to, making going to sleep even more difficult than it would have been. Personally, he would have liked to simply blow up the entire place when he was done with it, but that would be a rather bad start to any master-padawan relationship. Respect through fear was not what you looked for in someone so close, as it bred resentment. Speaking of resentment… his advisor had been looking a little under the weather lately. The usual hopeless rebellions had been springing up on some of the outer reaches, but would be quashed quietly as usual. This seemed to upset Obi-wan.

He attempted a grin and failed. The entire affair had called for one or the other's death, and had been thwarted. There was no love lost between them now, only necessity borne of circumstance. And if anyone had to die, it was not going to be Darth Vader, soon to be ruler of the galaxy himself.

This time, a fully sinister grin graced his features. The so-called Emperor of the republic, Darth Sidiuos (referred to less than reverently as Darth Hissing by Kenobi) had gotten lax lately. There'd been no real threats to his power, and of course good little Vader had been willing to cater to every whim… But not for much longer. The Jedi had an elaborate ceremony to decide when a padawan became a Master. For a Sith, it was whenever you managed to kill off your master.

Not that he intended to have that problem himself…

- - -

The letters arrived early the next morning. They were printed in a lovely, ornate calligraphy on good thick paper, and embossed with an intricate shiny gold seal. Mel began reading Katie's copy over her shoulder while Katie played with the light reflecting off of the overly impressive seal.

"To the parents or legal guardians of Kathryn Naomi Abell… They're really put some thought into this…" She scanned the rest of the dense, legal-looking document. "I really don't know how they're going to be able to say no. It throws in free, best education for gifted children, high society… all the sorts of things college promotions do."

Katie shrugged. "But from what our mysterious unnamed visitor said, there really isn't a choice." She paused a second. "He needs a name, even if just we use it so we know who we're talking about. I vote for Sexy Flower."

Mel laughed. "No. Just No. Why not… something dashing?"

Katie wrinkled her nose. "Him? Dashing? Not really. More sadistically amused, but that's harder to find a name for."

"So you're saying he enjoyed leading us on?"

"Of course he did. He was all laughing inside. I'd bet this shiny letter that he's on drugs. Creepy psychedelic ones. Like LSD."

Mel kicked her friend. "No way. How do you know these other planets even have drugs?"

"Because they look nearly human. And if there's humans, there's bound to be some sort of drugs." Katie tried to keep a cynical face.

"You sound like our health teacher."

"Hey! That wasn't fair! Take it back! Right now!"

"No." Mel stuck out her tongue. "Serves you right for thinking he was on drugs."

"Oh, defending him now?" Katie grinned. "I think Mel likes someone…"

"Hey! I just don't think he's on drugs, all right?"

"Yeah right." Katie dropped the matter anyway, feeling that it might not be the best of ideas to push her friend.

- - -

Katie sat down heavily on the hotel bed. It was still several hours before they actually had to be at the White House (though, interestingly enough, to see someone far more important than the President) and they were just hanging around till then. In the end both sets of parents had agreed, and now here they were, waiting for three o'clock that afternoon. When hopefully they'd finally get some answers and not secret whispers in the dark ones.

Her own parents had been _slightly_ more open to the idea than Mel's, whose mother had been rather opposed to the idea when it was learned that Mel's twin could not attend (paying or otherwise). In fact, Katie's father had been quite happy with the idea that his daughter was going off into the middle of the science fiction books he read. But of course, neither set had quite liked the idea of complete and total separation. They'd eventually given in, though not without some (sort of) forced pleading.

Katie's mother, being the only of the foursome not restrained by a regular job, had elected to drive the girls' down. It had become a bit of a holiday, though a short one with a day to drive down, a day there and a day back. That is, assuming the girls were going to be driven back at all.

Katie sighed dramatically. "Mel, what should I wear? I mean, I've never had a formal audience with a dictator before."

Mel shrugged. "Do you think I have? Just go with… something nice. Not overly fancy or overly skin showing, but nice. Attractively nice. Maybe try to impress them a little?"

Katie made another noise of displeasure. "I meant… skirt or pants?" Of course, the whole effect was ruined as she was lying on her back staring at the fake roman ceiling.

Mel poked her friend on the stomach, causing her to squeal and roll over (and off of the bed with a thump). "How long is the skirt?"

"A bit below my knees." Apparently deciding the floor was safer she stayed there.

"Then go for it." Mel wasn't worried about her own apparel, she generally didn't. After all, if they were interested in her 'powers' than it shouldn't matter what she wore.

"Do you think fishnets would send the wrong message?"

"Katie, no. No, no and no. I forbid you to wear fishnets." But she was, however, worried about her friend's. Katie had a habit of being a little… overly exuberant when she found something she liked/thought she looked good in.


	2. Chapter 2: Frontiers

As it was barely the beginning of fall and they were just past the Mason-Dixie line meant that it was still quite warm. The sun shone down full-force; loath to give up what remaining power it had over the uncomfortable New Englanders.

The rest of the crowd (larger than usual, most of the Roswell buffs had quit wandering around Nevada and come to see a real spaceship) around the cast iron fence looked at them strangely as the entrance actually opened. Several of the extremists tried to rush in as well, but the guards/sentries/futuristic-Gestapo or whatever they were pushed them off. Despite this (happy) reprieve in the endless 'repent or go to hell' chants employed by said extremists, being escorted anywhere by someone dressed entirely in white plastic while carrying formidable looking plastic weapons was just a tad bit daunting. Of course, the fact that neither of them had visible faces added to the effect.

They were escorted past the front lawn, through a clump of trees to the back garden. It was ringed with thicker lines of trees, through the middle had been cleared out for the ship to land in relative peace (and safety from the press's prying eyes).

It was here that Katie began to really feel nerves at the idea of meeting _the_ ruler of the galaxy, and probably would have tried walking in the other direction if the 'escorts' had not been so insistent that they not keep anyone waiting.

One of them marched right up to the gleaming side, and began keying in a password on the multicolored keypad. The other stood there, managing to project an aura of menace without doing anything at all. Slowly, as the first one finish the sequence, the door began rising up slowly, and the walkway extending with a faint hiss.

"Oh god." Katie grabbed Mel's upper arm, trying to stand behind her friend without making it obvious that she was trying to hide.

"Relax," her friend shot back just as afraid but determined not to show it, at all costs. "Can't be that bad…"

She nodded back, and let go. Their escorts (looking even more like guards by the minute) gestured them inside.

The walkway made faint echo-y noises with every footstep they took on it. The entrance bay that it led to was quiet as well, empty and stark looking in all its whiteness.

They were ushered along a passage way to the left, up a ramp and to the right into a room as white as the rest of the ship had been. It was of a medium size, and the walls were ringed with cushy-looking chairs.

There were instructed by the androgynous, computer-sounding voice of the guard to wait there for someone to come to them, and not to leave or try to enter any other room on pain of death. Of course it didn't actually say that last piece, but that was the understood meaning.

As the two trooped out, Mel sat down in one of the chairs facing the two doors. "It's not too bad, so far. No needles, drugs, rabid animals…"

"You haven't seen Vader before breakfast. I'd take the mad dog any day." They both turned startled. Obi-wan had done his appearing trick yet again, and was leaning against the wall next to Mel's chair.

Katie shot Mel an accusing _who's-being-sadistic-now?_ look, and went back to glaring at the speaker. "Really, if you're going to keep jumping in on us all the time, they least you could do is tell us your name."

"My name, or at least what you shall be calling me from now on is Master Kenobi." He'd put a bit of emphasis on the Master part; it was obviously a title he didn't get to lay claim too often.

Mel gave Katie a see?-its-**not**-sexy-flower! look. Her friend just made a face back.

"Anyway, I suppose we should be moving. This entire craft has been worked to repel the static forces, and I want to get a rough idea of how much you already know." He swept off down a hallway, obviously expecting them to follow obediently. Or, as would be the case, just plain follow.

This next room wasn't nearly as white, more of a neutral grey. It was very tall and open, but there were a few black metal platforms jutting out of the walls at random strategic points. The floor was uneven in places as well, with a few random ramps and stairs and platforms. There was also what seemed to be a random rack against one wall, filled with large (maglight-esque) flashlights.

He led them over to a table in the far corner, upon which was a pebble, a spoon and a square lump of heavy-looking rock. Pushing them into bench seats on one side he sat across from them, looking almost cheerful.

They blinked. He blinked back at them, overly pleasantly. Not a good sign.

"Now, I want you to move the spoon." He made it sound as simple as breathing. But, wasn't this supposed to be some sort of test?

Shrugging, Katie reached out for the spoon. "No!" He gave her a light smack on the back of the hand. "With your mind!"

Settling back indignantly, Katie rubbed her hand while glaring at the spoon. Mel tried to concentrate on it too, not really sure what she was trying to do.

The spoon hopped an inch to the right. Their eyes went wide, and their mouths dropped open. They turned to stare at each other. "Was it you…?" Katie poked her friend. "How did you do it?"

Mel looked a tad alarmed. "It definitely wasn't me! It must've been you then?"

Obi-wan's more sadistic grin returned. "No, that was me. I was just messing with you."

Katie frowned deeper at him. He was really making this so much less fun that it already was. Once she managed to get the hang of this spoon thing, she was going to throw it at his smug little grin. Or jam it up his nose.

Mel just sighed in irritation. How was one supposed to make a spoon move without touching it? It was madness. She tried to concentrate harder on the spoon, crossing her eyes in her effort. Please spoon, move. _Move please. Now. Please? Oh great spoony? Pleeaaasee?_

The spoon didn't move. It just sat there in smug spoony silence, mocking them with its godly spoon airs.

Katie's frown deepened. She'd been thinking along the same lines as Mel was, though she didn't know it. Maybe she was going about it wrong? After all, it was just a spoon. _**Spoon**. Move_. She thought with a bit of a vengeance, trying to bend her will onto the insolent piece of metal.

Apparently this worked, as the spoon went flying and hit the wall, narrowly missing Obi-wan's ear.

"Oh. So that's how you do it." She blinked again. Interesting. She'd never been able to do that at home, which was probably a good thing.

Obi-wan made a small, sarcastic clap. "Very good. I was hoping you'd figure it out." He waved two fingers in an airy gesture, and the spoon flew back to alight gently on the tabletop.

Mel couldn't help but feel slightly besieged. How the hell had Katie been able to do it? And He was acting like it was something really easy, which it wasn't or else she'd have been able to do it by now!

Trying not to look as panicked as she couldn't help but feel, she directed her gaze back onto the miscreant spoon.

**_Move, dammit_**! (There was a faint mental click as all her cogs fell into place.)

The spoon obliged politely, even more violently than when Katie had figured it out. This time it almost smacked Obi-wan square in the nose, had he not held up a hand to halt it in midair.

"Well, I can see we'll have our work cut out for us teaching you control, now, won't we?" He commented, looking genuinely happy at their newfound ability. "See, control is the difference between being able to pick up a boulder," He floated the pebble around for a bit. "And being able to grasp a grain of sand. Sure, you might be able to set a pile of papers on fire, but can you only burn the top one? Half of the top one? A layer?" He gently laid the small rock back down again. "It's also the difference between getting along fairly well, and actually mastering an ability. You will have no choice in the matter. 'Control you need, or burn this down you will' as one of my old and wise masters once told me."

Mel blinked back at him, absorbing the speech while mentally cheering. She'd done it! Woohoo!

Katie was paying attention in a superficial sort of way, she was much more interested in contemplating the possibilities this power provided. If she could throw a spoon, why not a chair? Or a person? Why not simply make everything come to her, instead of having to get up at all?

Obi-wan stopped, and _looked_ at both of them. "Yes, I know this seems extraordinary by your terms, but its actually very low-level." He addressed to Mel, with the air of someone who could read minds at will. "And you won't be able to use it in your free time, only when supervised by a capable adult."

Katie sighed at him, while inwardly wondering how he knew what she thought. _Capable adult? Him? No way_.

"Enough wool-gathering. It's nearly time for takeoff, and I think you should watch. After all, you'll be learning to fly yourselves." Obi-wan waved a hand at them expressively. It was still debatable how he knew what time it was, being devoid of any watch or visible timepiece.

Mel's eyes went wide. "Takeoff? But… I thought…" _What about saying good-bye?_

"I am sorry, but there are Imperial Schedules that must be followed." He shrugged a bit, not looking sorry in the least. "Your bags have already been collected, and placed in your room."

"Room?" Katie was jolted out of her _I-want-to-fly!_ reverie.

"There are separate beds, you know. Unless you're saying she smells." He couldn't help but grin. They were so much fun to toy with.

"No, that's not what I meant… It's just…" She couldn't help but be a bit flustered. He had a habit of twisting things, and she wasn't sure she liked him much at all.

"I know. Things are just moving a bit quickly, and are completely alien from anything you know." He clapped his hands together, sympathy (sincere or otherwise) gone. "You should settle in by tomorrow."

_Tomorrow_? They thought in unison after his retreating back. _Tomorrow?_

The cockpit area of the ship was large, smaller than the enormous room that had left, but at least as large as their living rooms back on earth. It had a curved wall, which was made up entirely (in the front) of large panes of blast-proof glass. The 'dashboard' or some hybrid thereof was almost completely covered in blinking, flashing or beeping LED screens or obscurely colored keypads.

At least seven or eight roughly human people (the ubiquitous techies, as they were to learn) bustled about these various monitors, clicking things or pressing things and muttering to each other in a local lingo entirely of technical jargon.

"I can't understand a word they say," Katie whispered to her friend, staying close enough to her side that it would have been plausible for them to be conjoined.

"Neither do I. But then again, this is only the beginning isn't it?"

"Of not understanding things? Hardly. I usually only understand half of what's going on." Katie shrugged, and got back to watching the highly entertaining keepers of the computers run around checking the various electronic items.

"But before you get to comfortable, I think you should be introduced to the Vader. That way, you still have a chance to run off before we get off the ground." Obi-wan sounded thrilled, just the way everyone does after they schedule a dentist appointment. He began ushering them towards a seemingly superfluous staircase off to the side, partly hidden by some random tower of wires.

But the techies didn't seem to notice; apparently getting this sort of steel behemoth off of the ground took way too much effort to actually pay attention anywhere else. Even if the entire process had already been mechanized, computerized, and filed away in three separate identical folders.

Katie realized that unless she started leaving a trail off different colored breadcrumbs, she was doomed to be wandering about lost for at least the first year. This new level didn't seem to be connected to the last one, or even have a way out. But it was also difficult to tell anything at all, the strips of light being set to the lowest possible setting. Through the dim orange glow they could make out a doorway, to which was a slightly brighter room.

"If I've told him once I've told him a thousand times… No one can see in this blasted hall of his. But does he listen to me? Even if that's what I'm here for? Course not!" Glaring at the plasma panel above his head, Obi-wan gently waved two fingers at it until it brightened sufficiently for them to make out details.

Now they could see, from their alcove across the hall, that someone had recently had the misfortune of incurring the wrath of this particular overlord. Or at least that was the impression they got as a rather white looking techy hurried out, brushing past them roughly.

"Obi-wan, you can bring them in now." The voice managed to have the same quality of that of a dragon issuing from his lair, with the same implied menace.

"Lucky you," Obi-wan muttered under his breath, pushing them forward. "Go on in… he doesn't bite. Not usually." He paused a second. "Besides, if you make him mad biting is the least of your worries."

- - -

They wandered into the room, looking around. It seemed to be ordinary, or as ordinary as anything could be any more. There was a rectangular wooden table with chairs set up around it, nice cushy ones and a smaller octagonal one with some sort of flat screen set deep onto its surface, obviously for the 'next generation' of teleconferences. It also led off into what they had to assume were his own personal rooms.

"I don't suppose I need to introduce myself, now, do I?" Katie openly jumped, while Mel just whirled around.

He was lounging on top of the octagonal table, as obviously these screens were built to withstand tougher use. He was wearing the dark Jedi ensemble, flowing black cloak draped elegantly around him and pooling onto the floor. There was something roguish about his grin, and he had the air of someone who could do whatever they wanted and was enjoying it. But he also seemed very calculated, as though every part of him had been chosen to project the same air, without seeming artificial.

Mel shifted uncomfortably as he looked them over unabashedly, she didn't like the appraising looks and nor did she like this entire meeting. He seemed to be waiting for something.

"They never did teach you manners, did they?" He commented to himself, before lashing out with tendrils of his own power.

Katie felt her spine wrench her forward into a low bow, and her head pushed down. Trying to straighten did nothing; her body seemed to be out of her own control.

"Besides being a protocol reminder, let this be an example for why you need to pay attention. If your mind is weak enough, or your control slips enough, any opponent can force you to do whatever they want regardless of what **you** want." He let them up, grinning sadistically. "The Force is all about willpower. If you want it enough, it will happen. I wanted you to bow, and you did. Rule number one."

Mel looked very irritated; she did not like the idea of someone being able to yank her about like a marionette on strings.

Katie did not like the idea either, but she had to admit that he had a point. Besides if she had enough power too, who was to say she wouldn't go about terrorizing people herself?

"Rule number two. I don't care what you call me, just as long as you use Lord, Darth or Master. I don't know if Obi-wan told you or not, but you are the only females currently aboard. Therefore, rule number three is that you are restricted to your own sleeping quarters, and there is to be no sexual activity at all." He was still grinning, obviously he considered himself above his own regulations. "Four, you can wander about anywhere and do anything you want, but you _are not_ (I repeat, **are not**) to use the force outside of a classroom. It is dangerous enough when supervised, but before you learn control the risk is much too great. As for lightsabers, you won't be able to touch them until we deem you ready, and even then there will be **no** frivolous use."

Mel and Katie looked at each other, confused. _What was a lightsaber?_

"Rule five, you can get up and go to bed as late or early as you want as long as you are on time to where you are supposed to be." He paused for a moment, thinking. "As for classes, Obi-wan will work out times for you. In general terms, he will be covering saber work, planetary theory-" Here Mel hissed, hoping it was nothing like musical theory. "And the Code. I will be working on control, Force, and piloting and later will hopefully have the opportunity to take one of you as a personal apprentice. Once you settle in, one of the technical staff will be in charge of making sure you understand our more advanced technology. Of course you will be exposed to the political climate, and allowed to sit in on important meetings." Important meaning trivial, he added mentally. They obviously were not going to be permitted to meet the Emperor for quite sometime, until they had learned enough not to be completely bowled over. "The first planet we'll be touching down on next is Corsucant, to restock and to sort of gradually expose you to some of the more… alien aliens." His 'we' was less him and Obi-wan and more the royal plural, though they did not know that. He paused to take a breath, thinking of what he had left to say. "Ah yes. Before you are escorted to your room, you might as well tell me your names."

"Melissa Mahoney." Her tone was a bit overly curt, but it was polite enough.

"Kathryn Abell." She supposed there was no hope in hoping he'd be able to spell it, or even remember it. _Mel'll probably end up more powerful, and he'd get her, and then I'll get stuck with Obi-wan_, she thought. The irony of being more afraid of Obi-wan than the dictator did not occur to her.

"Right. Now, be sure to close the door behind you." It was an order, though a nicely phrased one.

Reaching the threshold, Mel turned and bowed. The submissive gesture was tempered by a mocking flourish, and it was clear that she did not mean to grovel. Ever.

Obi-wan was waiting for them at the top of the staircase. They must have caught him off-guard, as there was a weird expression on his face. It spoke of mixed emotions, a raging hatred countered by depression that recalled mourning in its deepness. "How did it go?" He commented lightly, taking impressive control of his face and hiding the emotion.

"It was rather well." Katie commented, looking as though she too would like to lapse into deep thought.

"Considering, that is." Mel added. They could, upon occasion, actually finish each other's sentences right. "No blood, murder or death threats." She shrugged, missing the look her friend shot her behind his back. Apparently this was one of the rare times they'd not been thinking the same.

"That's nice to know. Its such a bear to try and get all the blood off the floor when he does get angry." This was yet another branching, random hallway. It seemed to be on the same level as Vader's but didn't seem to have any connection. But it was hard to distinguish any good navigational details in all the white.

He stopped at a recessed doorway, and pulled the keypad out into better view. "This is going to be your room, and you should make sure to remember the code. The only others that will know it are myself and Vader, for security reasons."

It was difficult to make out what the different colored keys meant, as they were all marked with a foreign symbol. Instead, Katie hoped to remember the shape the sequence made. Mel went for the colors, muttering things like 'orange orange green blue' as she watched intently.

The door did finally swoosh open, to reveal the room. It was nothing very exciting, with a bed sunk into the wall on either side. There were also two different, deep closets at the foot of each bed, and a room at the back that lead to their own personal bathroom. Their suitcases sat on the beds, looking very forlorn and weirdly homey despite the fact that they were only ever used a few times a year.

"Do we get cool clothes like yours?" Mel tugged on the hem of his cloak, wonderingly.

He jerked out of her hold, almost convulsively. "Yes, you do, but-" It was obvious how uncomfortable he was, standing around in the girls' room.

She stopped listening about there, and almost ran to the closet that was near here bed. Yanked open it revealed its rows of neutrally colored layers in mostly lighter shades. Disregarding the clothes she already had one she began piling on random layers until she felt like they were enough. "Is this right?" She twirled around in place, feeling very special.

He tried to contain an exasperated sigh. "No. You have all the outer ones on the bottom and all the inner ones and top. And unless it's very, very cold, we don't wear twenty. We wear four."

"Oh." Mel shrugged, keeping them on. "But they're fun! Do we wear them all the time?"

Katie made a small, squeaky noise. "But I like **my** clothes…!"

"You wear them all the time, unless its some sort of extremely formal affair, at which you will wear whatever we decide is proper. Takeoff should be very soon, and after you change you can wander up to the bridge to watch or you can stay here. I need to go discuss something. I will be back later, and there's still more examination to be done so don't think you've gotten off just yet." He swept out, and the door swooshed back into place after his retreating back.

Katie promptly flopped down onto her bed, pleased at how comfy it was. Ignoring her suitcase she draped her legs over it, stretching out in a vaguely catlike pose. "So. What do you think?"

"Of what?" Mel stood in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to adjust her layers properly. She wanted to look as Jedi as possible.

"Of Vader. Of Obi-wan… Of everything." It was a typically vague question, as Katie tried to sort out her own feelings of said subjects.

"I like Obi-wan. He seems nice enough, and I find the sadism amusing." Mel finally figured it out, ending up with an outfit almost identical to Obi-wan's (this was, of course, how she managed to figure it out). The three underlayers were cream, with one a sandy red-brown over it. There was another creamy sash, over which she'd put the brown leather belt with its shiny buckle. Completing the ensemble with a dark, dark brown cloak, she swished about in front of the mirror feeling special. "Vader's evil, its obvious, and I have to say I'm strongly disliking him already. He seems just the sort to oppress a universe, and I bet he enjoys doing it."

Katie smoothed the edge of her plaid skirt, feeling the raised black threads of the weave. "I don't know, I have to say I don't blame him for being all arrogant. I mean, if you had that kind of power, wouldn't you be a bit full of yourself?"

"I suppose." It was Mel's turn to shrug. "But I still don't like him."

Katie nodded, closing her eyes. "It's all right. He'll probably turn out to be worse when you actually get to know him." She neglected to continue her questions, opting to maintain the comfortable silence.

"Are you going to get dressed or what?" Mel prodded her friend, impatiently.

"Or what. I think I'm going to take a nap." She replied without opening her eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going up to watch the takeoff, OK?"

"Yeah. Whatever." Katie waited until her friend had closed the door before sitting up. She was tired, but a nap was definitely not what she wanted. Instead, she was planning on wandering about a little… exploring, if you will.

Her closet held the same style clothing as Mel's, but in darker shades. Dressing, she surveyed herself in the mirror. Someone who was not Kathryn Abell stared back, eyes wide and dark in an overly pale face. Her three undershirts were in darkening shades of grey, with a black one as the outer layer. Her sash was dark grey, with a black leather belt to go over it. Her cloak was black as well, and she drew up the hood, admiring how very 'Gothic Riding Hood' she looked. Sighing, she turned away. To her delight, there was a pair of tall black leather boots, with a few very shiny buckles at the heel. They were surprisingly (and rather suspiciously), exactly her size and completed the outfit quite well. Drawing her cloak about her, she slipped through the whooshing doors.

The hallway was still deserted, as it seemed that this was one of the lesser-traveled areas of the ship. She cast a glance up towards the cockpit end of the hall, feeling bad for leaving her friend out of her excursion. But she was going to have to be brave enough to do something stupid on her own eventually, instead of relying on her friend's bravado to save the day. Suppressing a brief shiver, she began her wander.

It was hard to keep her path straight, as the many halls that lead from it looked just as inviting. But she tried to stay on one track; or else she'd never find her way back in time. Most of the other doorways she passed had forbidding locks, and none were open enough to peak through. She also passed few people, mostly the random patrolling storm troopers that didn't give her a second glance.

It was the oddest sensation. She stuck out like an ink blotch on white paper, and should have been suspiciously unknown by anyone passing her. The lack of any reaction from anybody was almost disappointing, though she supposed it was better than begin shot at. It did serve as a reminder that how every important or interesting she may be to these strange people, there are probably loads of others who didn't give a damn. It also ushered in a sense of loneliness. The sterile, violently white walls could never be thought as comforting, and the lack of color was already starting to kill her. White had always been such an impersonal color, to her at least. It showed the slightest stain that you got on it, and just served to make everything else look dirtier. At least black was emotional, a feeling opposite to its anemic, haughty cousin.

The white also recalled every movie ever made concerning the digital takeover; no hostile computer was complete without gratuitous white and silver metal. Preoccupied with these thoughts, she almost walked right past the only person to notice her.

"And where do you think you're going?" Vader caught her arm and spun her to face him. He looked a tad confused, as he had been going to meet up with the girls and Obi-wan in the cockpit not wandering random halls.

"Nowhere in particular?" She answered, with a sinking feeling. It was just her luck, to run into the very person that it was probably wisest to avoid. Despite this, she couldn't help noticing that he was only wearing one black leather glove, on his left hand. It was curious, but hardly out of place in this hive of curios.

"I don't think he told you could go wandering about." There was obvious displeasure in his voice but no actual anger. He sounded more annoyed at the inconvenience.

"He never said that I **couldn't**." She replied, trying to go for witty and amusing, as there really wasn't any other answer.

He sighed, with a hint of a smile. "That can go for now, but from now on understand that if you are not told you can do it then you can't. You might as well come along with me then, back to where you were **supposed** to be."

She hurried to keep up with him, though staying a pace or too behind and to the side. Its not like she had practice in the art of formal, Imperial manners, and it seemed like a good idea.

- - -

Mel pressed up against a window, watching intently. The ground was still where it was supposed to be, as the techies seemed to be having a problem with something called a 'stabilizer'. Eventually they seemed to decide that it didn't matter if a few people got slammed into a door, as there was a schedule of engagements they had to keep.

Melodramatically, with great aplomb and with the air of someone that has always wanted to do Shakespeare but has been stuck doing bit parts in a lame sitcom, someone pressed a large blinking red button.

Mel was thrown sideways as the ship gave a great lurch to one side. Obi-wan, balancing easily as though used to such malfunctions caught her shoulder before she managed to hurt anything. Setting her back on her feet, he gave a bit of a sigh. "Thousands of years later, and they _still_ can't keep the blasted thing from trying to flip over."

She smiled at him, before turning away to politely ignore him in favor of the window. The ground was rushing away very quickly, what had once been a huge yard was now a small green blotch on the patterned landscape. It was the height at which most airplanes flew, and usually the limit on commercial flight.

"There's no need to look so amazed. You'll get used to it eventually; he keeps us planet hopping until you start liking space better. Some of them are quite nice, but there are others that I'd never like to go to again. Like Hoth, for example. Zero degrees all year round and not a decent coffee maker on the entire thing. Enough to make you go mad."

"That explains a lot." Mel quipped, watching in obvious delight as wisps of atmosphere went trailing by like pieces of thin cloud.

"Ha ha. Very funny. I can see that we have a long and amusing relationship to look forward too." There was a brief, comfortable silence. "Speaking of relationships, where did your friend get too?"

"She said she was taking a nap…" Mel trailed off as Katie came tripping down the hall, being towed by none other than Vader himself.

"And apparently decided that she'd rather wander about alone." He commented, while Obi-wan looked on with the air of someone who would have dragged her back by the ear.

Mel shot her friend a **_without-me?_** look, feeling suddenly abandoned. Katie gave her a shrug, and a _I-didn't-**mean**-too_ which wasn't much help, given that walking around is a very deliberate act. She wasn't sure exactly why she did it, and what had been the whole point as it had turned out to be rather pointless. What ever she'd wanted to find, this _wasn't_ the way to find it.

"Why'd you sneak off? I would've gone along." Mel hissed to her friend, as they followed the bickering Masters back to the evaluation room.

Katie shrugged defensively. "Just drop it. Its not like I actually found anything." She gave her friend a quick one-armed hug, though it was more for herself.

- - -

"Before we start grilling you in the basics of saber, we might as well give you a demonstration." Obi-wan declared, grabbing two of the 'flashlights' off of the rack. He tossed one to Vader, who caught it. "Of course we won't be _actually_ fighting to kill, or even to injure, just to give you an idea." His words had a hint of steel, making it more of a thinly veiled threat towards his opponent than a reminder to the girls.

Vader nodded at him curtly, and they took their places about ten paces apart. With a flick of a finger (upon some sort of recessed button or switch) they powered up some sort of laser-sword-esque thing. It tapered to a point, and as surrounded by a halo of distorted light. There was also a heavy humming sound, apparently emanating from the laser things. Obi-wan's was a brilliant light blue, with Vader's a more clíched and sinister blood red.

The sparring started slowly, each circling the other cautiously much like predatory animals. The tips of the 'sabers, as they had been called, were up and out seeking for an opening in the other's guard. But before long they'd progressed to faster than it was possible to follow, lights whirling and flashing as it began to go beyond a mere demonstration.

To the spectators it seemed more like a futuristic fencing match, and hardly anything to get all bothered about, until Obi-wan almost got in a lucky shot…

With the buzzing point descending rapidly towards his leg, Vader did the most unexpected thing. He jumped an impossible six feet up onto one of the platforms, blocked a return strike, and somersaulted off to land (on his feet like a cat) behind his opponent.

Obi-wan fought back without blinking an eye, apparently that was a normal occurrence (that _did_ explain the seemingly random platforms and ramps, though). It also made a lot of sense, when you considered the lesser impossibilities that had been possible on the static planet.

"I want to do that," Katie breathed, interest piqued.

Mel chuckled, watching with an air of someone who isn't looking forward to figuring it out because she is already certain of being able to do so. Though she was hoping that she wouldn't get left behind if Katie learned faster, which was ironically the same fear passing through her friend's head. Neither of them had ever had to directly compete with the other, and this was an entirely new experience anyway. As it would eventually come to pass, they were not wrong to worry about competition. However, it would not come from one to the other…

In the not-so silent silence that followed, Katie realized something. That the two duelists were not going to stop, because each was afraid of the other attacking while they were unarmed. This created a sort of Catch-22, and meant that it would continue until _someone_ got hurt.

But it as Mel who actually did something, apparently coming to the same conclusions as her friend. "Are you two going to try to kill each other, or are we going to get a turn?" She commented offhandedly, but loudly enough to be heard over the frenzied buzzing and swooshing of the lasers.

Obi-wan suddenly halted, turning to face her with a flourish of blue light. The 'blade' (or whatever it should be called) was still 'unsheathed' though it was tucked at his side. "No, I'm sorry, but you'll have to master some of the basics before you actually get to touch them. Its far more dangerous than the simple swords you're used to, and can take off limbs easier than knives. Besides, you need to start meditation first."

As his companion extolled the dangers of the sabers Vader shifted slightly, though uneasily. He was flexing the gloved hand, and discreetly eyeing his opponent's unprotected back.

Obi-wan shut off his highly evolved flashlight, and set it back on the not-so random rack while giving Vader a pointed evil eye. "Now, if you two will sit down over here…" He gestured towards an empty corner.

Mel and Katie sat, cross-legged, wondering what this meditation would be all about. Of course, to their Americanized minds the first thing to pop into their heads was the cinematic Swami, and his legendary hum of 'umm'.

Obi-wan sat down across from them, though he was levitating about six inches off of the floor. "Now, I'm sure this seems simple. You just down, empty your mind and poof! You learn. But it's really not that simple. After all, when was the last time you sat for an hour without falling asleep? That's the first problem. Second, it's the clearing of the mind. Thinking of absolutely nothing sounds easy, but it takes practice. Of course, it's all well for me to lecture. I've been doing this for years."

Trying to get comfortable, they closed their eyes and tried to think of nothing. Of course, when you try not to think of something you do think of it, so all sorts of little things came flooding into their minds.

Katie snorted in displeasure, trying to filter her mind.

Obi-wan flicked her from his vantage point. "No. You want to try to breathe deeply and evenly. Start by concentrating on that. Breathe in for a count of seven, hold for a count of seven, breathe out for seven and hold for seven."

As his voice, gently counting, faded into the distance Katie tried to clear her mind. In, hold, out, hold. In, hold, out hold…

Suddenly an even harder flick to the forehead jolted her alert. "Hey! What was that for?"

"I said clear your mind, not fall asleep!" Obi-wan admonished. "That's defeating the purpose."

"That's defeating the purpose," She muttered under her breath, and received yet another hard tap.

"You know, I can do this all day if you want. So stop making it harder on yourself."

"It'd be easier to think if-ouch!"

"I don't want you to think. So stop." He grinned to himself. Teaching might actually turn out to be fun after all.

- - -

Katie curled up under the covers, trying not the think about her queasy stomach. Things had gone relatively well after the fruitless meditation lesson, but then it had been time for dinner. And dinner usually involves food. Only problem was this was food by the loosest sense of the word.

- - -

Mel looked down at her over-full bowl, giving the _stuff_ inside a cautious look-over, as though she was afraid that it as either radioactive or about to explode on her.

"What Mel, is it alive or something?" Katie commented offhandedly, picking up a bowl of her own from the tray in the center of the table. This room was oval, and held a multitude of long wooden table where the entire contents of the ship ate. There was a large crowd of red, then an even larger one of white as the techies and storm troopers separated themselves. Along one side there was a table of blue, as the kitchen workers abandoned their post in lieu of some of what they made.

Unfortunately, the girls were considered somewhat special. They were situated at a long table on the dais, where Vader, Obi-wan and some of the other higher-ranking officials sat.

Anyway, so Katie picked up her bowl and looked in it. To her shock and surprise, it as full of a scummy-looking fluid, in which swam (yes, swam) weird-looking aquatic things. The most common were electric blue shrimp-esque fish, with some oddly pink slug-things at the bottom. "Interesting. It is alive."

Mel twitched. "Wonder where it comes from?" She was also wondering if she really wanted to know. Which was why she hadn't asked what it was.

Obi-wan laughed at the pair of them, from his seat across from Mel. "Kashyyyk. Not that it really matters." Spearing a shrimp with his fork, he chewed thoughtfully. "As most of the crew members are from different planets, we try to be diverse in our eating habits."

"Why do I think I won't be looking forward to dinner very often?" Katie commented, gently poking one of the pink things with her own fork.

"Its not that bad. Takes some getting used to, but its good. Tangy, but sweet." He swallowed. "Besides, this is nothing compared to some of the weird things we get served. Just wait till you see…" He cackled to himself, thoroughly enjoying making their meal even less fun. Hey, he deserved a little fun for having to put up with this place.

"So you chew them when you eat them?" Mel asked, still looking like she was a tad afraid of her bowl.

"Only if you want to kill them." He replied, with a straight face.

Shuddering, Katie poked Mel gently under the table. "You try it first."

"Thanks a lot…" Her friend grumbled, gingerly scooping one of the freakishly colored shrimp on to her spoon. Closing her eyes she popped in into her mouth, and chewed as fast as she could before swallowing. Slowly, she opened her eyes again. "Its… actually not that bad. Tastes pretty good." She went fishing for another one, a little less hesitant.

- - -

Sure the things had _tasted_ all right. But now she was beginning to regret deciding that she'd brave seconds. Turning over, she faced her friend. Or her friend's bed, as Mel was curled up the other way and looked like she was already asleep. Lucky. Katie'd been having some problems in that department lately. Damn hormones…


	3. Chapter 3: Easy To Fall

The first few days were interesting, as they tried to acclimate themselves to the atmosphere. The change from mostly natural to mostly artificial light was the hardest, as there was obviously no random shining sun for their convenience in space. Mel was of the opinion that they'd soon become very pale from all the florescence, but Katie didn't really care. Its not like that would make any difference.

The classes, as the rough term would go, were interesting for lack of a better word. Meditation was still enough to make them flatline, but Obi-wan was proving to be a rather amusing teacher, as long as he was yelling at someone else.

Mel preferred him, and his classes to Vader's. She also seemed to be taking the Code to heart, as it was similar to the internal one she already had, just a tad more extreme.

Katie, on the other hand, disliked having such a rigid set of rules. Obi-wan had really started to despair of her, when he wasn't worried.

- - -

"So the leader of this dictatorship has your people enslaved. You think you can get them out on your own, but you might lose some. The leader offers to let them go free if you agree to sleep with him. What do you do?" He proposed, sitting on top of a desk in their makeshift 'classroom'.

"It depends. How cruel is he? What is his reputation for dealings? How good looking is he? Master?" Katie asked, fiddling with her pencil absentmindedly.

"How attractive he is or isn't is not part of the question." He replied with a sigh.

"Yes it does. If I actually have a chance of saving my people without bloodshed, then I will. But its easier if he is semi-attractive." Was her own justification.

"But it is against the Code!" He ranted, waving his arms in the air. "You don't go against the Code!"

"I don't get the point of bothering to have a Code. I mean, who checks it? Who makes sure you follow it?" She countered, genuinely confused.

"No one checks it. It's just… a sort of conscience for you. There are two kind of Jedi. The Jedi, which are good and respected throughout the galaxy by all. And then there are the Sith, who are evil and hated throughout said galaxy. Unfortunately, the Sith are in power for now. And yes, Vader is Sith. That's generally what happens when you go about blowing up planets and killing off civilization as we know it." He'd been waiting for quite some time to get this all off his chest, and she'd given him a perfect opening. "And _no_, you _cannot_ change back and forth as you please. Once a Sith, always a Sith."

Mel sighed to herself, settling into her seat more comfortably. She understood the Code, and thought that it was actually very well thought out as far as following it was concerned. Now they were in for some kind of lecture, and that wasn't cool. She'd much rather get back to saber, but that wasn't until after lunch. And they still had this, and an entire hour of Force to get through. _That_ wasn't cool either…

- - -

"No, no, and no. Try it again." Vader did not look (or sound) very happy; but then again that was nothing new at all. "The point it to get used to controlling something you aren't touching, not to throw dice at the other player."

He was having the two of them play some normal Earth games like chess, and dice games, though with a twist. They weren't allowed to actually touch any of it, and had to try to use mind-power-ness.

Mel sighed, irritated. She was having problems getting the dice to roll properly, and had been resorting to making them fly across the table and roll that way. "But I don't get it! How do you get them to roll independently in the air? I can pick them up, I just don't get how to roll them. Master." She added on the last bit belatedly, as she wasn't _actively_ trying to piss him off. The whole title thing just kept slipping her mind.

"Make a sort of bowl with your mind," Katie offered, trying to help. She had been getting the mental stuff pretty easily, and much more easily then Mel. But then again, she still sucked at saber where Mel could win with her eyes closed. This just meant that Katie was longing for when they got to learn how to jump about and practically fly. Then things would be a bit more even.

"I've been trying… but what do I make the bowl _out_ of?" Mel complained. The Force was so incredibly hard to pin down that it was difficult to make anything out of it. She could shape _air,_ but then the dice just fell through. "I just don't get it."

"It doesn't matter anymore, as its lunch time. But it will tomorrow. And Kathryn would you mind hanging back for a moment?" It was an order, though disguised as an offhand request.

Katie twitched. It felt weird hearing him say her name, as usually he just made eye contact with one or the other. She gave Mel a _save-me-a-seat?_ look, though it didn't really matter that much. Mel nodded back, though sending her a _tell-me-all-about-it_ back.

Once Melissa had left for the dining hall and was out of earshot, he explained his proposition. "You have a free period after lunch, correct?" She nodded, waiting curiously. "Well, I was wondering if you would be interested in extra lessons? I've noticed that you seem to be more advanced than your friend, so if you'd like to learn some of the more interesting things early…? Obi-wan was thinking of doing something similar for your friend with saber, if you're worried about that." For once it was a normal question, not a thinly veiled order. Obi-wan would have been proud of him, though he'd never know.

She thought about it for a second, then looked up, making rare eye contact. "Yes, I'd like to." There was a short pause. "Master."

"Brilliant. Starting tomorrow. You can head off to lunch now." He turned away, waving the gloved hand airily towards the door.

Halfway down the grey metal stairs to the whiter main level, Katie froze. She'd been going over the meeting her in her mind, when she realized something. Why hadn't she noticed that his eyes were so weird? Patterned gold and black was a highly unusual combination…

"So what was that all about?" Mel inquired in an offhand manner, though she was really eaten up by curiosity.

"Nothing really. He just wanted to know if I was interested in doing extra lessons… you know, more advanced stuff." Katie heaped a layer of cheese on to her salad. Lunches were usually simple, with various vegetables (some known, some not) and meats for the use in salads or wraps. And of course, large quantities of cheese.

"Lucky! So you're going to get all ahead of me?" Mel asked, ladling a small pile of brown tuber-looking things on to her wrap. They were actually quite good, despite looking like they were found under a very dirty rock.

"Yeah, but apparently Obi-wan's gonna do the same for you, only with saber. Or that's what he told me." Katie took a few of Mel's tuber-things, though she hid them under a stack of pinkish squiggly twigs.

"Hey!" Mel stole on of Katie's twigs. "So we're going to have private lessons. Interesting." She bit into her multicolored concoction, and chewed thoughtfully.

"I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to it. I mean, you say all the cool jumping-stuff they did… Besides, didn't Obi-wan mention something about spontaneous combustion yesterday? When he was going over what can go wrong?" It was a typical Katie statement, in that it involved the gratuitous burning of things.

"You're bad enough with matches…" Mel commented, thinking over a time when they had experimented with dropping a load of bacon grease onto a roaring fire. That had been interesting, all right. But not interesting enough to deserve the grounding. "I don't envy you though. Extra hours with _him_? Voluntarily? I think not." It was easy to refer to Obi-wan in casual conversation, as you simply used his name. Vader was a bit different, as he seemed to have way too many titles and variations. Katie knew what she meant, after all.

"Its better than more time with Obi-wan. He drives me insane!" Whether or not she already was, was under debate.

"But at least he's all honorable and stuff." Mel contended. It was much easier to have a private conversation at lunch, as most of those who shared their table preferred to have more elegant fare sent to their rooms. "You know, all with the Code."

"Screw the Code. And it's not that he's _dis_honorable, he just bends to fit the situation." Katie retorted.

"You're just brainwashed because you think he's hot." Mel countered, though without the venom it could have had.

"I do **not** think he's hot! I just agree with him." Can we spell touchy? Katie would have been ready to breathe fire if she as able.

"Ha ha… Katie likes someone." Mel chanted, grinning at her friend. Though she found the idea of crushing on a dictator repellent, it was much more fun to annoy her friend about it. Especially since she seemed to having an effect.

"I do not!" Katie protested, though she seemed more subdued. "That'd be… ewww. He's way too old for me." She twitched.

"See? You've actually put some thought into this…"

"Mel! Stoppit!" Katie threw a roll at her devilishly grinning friend, and missed. "Its just… he's… you know…"

"Charming? Handsome? Attractive? Dreamy?" Mel made puppy-dog eyes at the least one, as she gestured expressively.

"Dreamy?" Katie looked confused. "I mean, I can see the rest but..."

"Ha! Caught you there." Mel settled back down to finish her meal. It was nice to know that she still had the ability to get her friend to admit to the obvious.

- - -

"O Romeo, Romeo." Mel quoted dramatically, standing on her bed. "Wherefore art thou-" She ducked a missile thrown by her friend.

"Shut up will you? I'm trying to write that stupid paper for Obi-wan. I swear, if he yells 'the Code' at me one more time, I'm gonna…"

"Go pine after your dark love?"

"Kill you!" She finished a tad violently. "Will you shut up already? I'm barely half way through." She shot her over excitable friend a sideways glare. "I don't see you doing yours."

"I already did. You know, during the other hour of free time we had? While you were off with _him_." Mel dropped down to her knees, when hung upside down off of her bed. She couldn't help being a little hyper, the earth food (complete with root beer) served at dinner had had that effect.

"He was explaining something I was confused about in your precious Obi-wan's lecture on the Republic." She sniffed, a bit haughtily. "Besides, he mentioned that he wants to take me on as his own apprentice."

"Oh well. That leaves me with Obi-wan. Works for me." Me shrugged. She didn't see what the big fuss was all about; after all they'd still be taking classes with both people. Besides, she got along well with him. They had similar philosophies.


	4. Chapter 4: Where are You?

"So what's this with the whole Sith-Jedi thing? I'm confused." Katie commented to Obi-wan. He was having her stay during the free time, in order to lecture her about a bit more.

"The Sith are those who break the Code, and the Jedi are the ones who maintain it." Was his reply. "Generally speaking, there are a few things that usually lead to the Dark side. Love which brings hate, fear and greed are the most common, though they can happen on their own."

"So you're saying that to love makes you evil?"

"Yes and no. The sort of romantic attachment you're thinking of does, but general compassion does not. You can't uphold justice without feeling something for those you are protecting." He hoped she'd take this all to heart. As Vader's apprentice, she'd be practically encouraged towards the Dark Side.

"Oh. Then I'd be worried about Mel. She has a bit of a rebel in her, and she doesn't like rules all that much…" Katie commented, in an ironic sort of way. That is, the comment itself was ironic, though she did not understand so at the time.

There was a short pause, as she thought up another question. "So who really rules this Empire thing? I know there's all sorts of officials, and a Senate that really doesn't count…"

"The Emperor does. You've never met him, and you won't for a long time. He's old and evil, and he'd eat you for breakfast if he thought you were a threat."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed.

"You thought it was Vader, now, didn't you?" He sounded amused. "No, believe me, he'd make a horrible emperor. He'd end up killing off half the population because they annoyed him, enslaving half of them, and then sleeping with the other half." Of course Obi-wan could count.

There was a huge lurch and a jarring thump as the ship set down. Unprepared, Katie went flying (she'd already been in the air) and crashed into Vader, knocking him over and landing sprawled over his lap.

"Sorry…" She mumbled, blushing as dark as a ripe tomato as she scrambled back to her feet.

He just laughed at her, though not unkindly. "One of the other reasons we're landing here is to pick up the spare parts for the stabilizers. So this shouldn't happen again." He really sort of wished that it would. Everyone had been very good lately, and it was irritating him not to have anyone to vent on. It had been days since he'd last thrown someone against a wall and simply ages since someone had been stupid enough that he had to eliminate them.

"So where are we again?" All the long and involved planet names confused her, as she had very little frame of reference.

"Corsucant. Home of the Senate, and the largest city in the entire galaxy. In fact, the whole planet is really just one huge city." He couldn't help sounding slightly possessive when talking about it. Being the right-hand man, it was his job to speak to the Senate (though never about anything important). The Senate itself had barely any power at all, having been neutered when the Emperor had taken control.

- - -

Mel had taken the jolt far more gracefully, just sort of skidding sideways while clutching her lightsaber and trying not to fall over.

Obi-wan had applauded her effort. "Lovely. But now that you've finally gotten used to it, it's going to be taken care of." Inwardly, he felt rather tense. They were right on schedule, but he had some dealings with the Rebellion that would need to be taken care of here. That meant sneaking off for long periods of time, coming up with a bunch of plausible excuses, while making his own mandatory audiences with the bureaucracy. And keeping this all out of the sight of his superior, and his rather observant padawan. Of course, he eventually was going to include her in his plans, but not until much later.

She gave him a look, puzzled by his silence. "Oh, go run off. You can look out the windows." He flapped a hand at her, shooing her away.

She complied, more enthusiastically than usual. Running up the stairs, she hung on to a walkway behind the cockpit.

The view was a weird mix of new and old, as the crowded skyline and shiny high-rises recalled every major city she had ever been in. But the buildings were off odd-colored metals, all pinks and browns and oranges in the sheen. There were small hover craft-type things zooming around in the sky, whizzing past their own ship in a sort of futuristic rush hour. Even the human scenery, from what she could see, was exotic. There were unnatural colors and shapes, those who looked almost human, like a mix between human and animal and the truly alien, who looked like nothing she'd ever dreamed of before.

"Wow." She breathed, utterly taken away. It was the most she could say, along with the thought of _They had so better let me go walking around this, or I'll have to find a way myself._

"What do you mean we have to stay here?" Mel sounded thoroughly indignant, and more than a little pissed off.

"I mean you have to stay here," Obi-wan replied, stonily. "This is a political meeting, and is no place for padawans like you two."

"But I want to-" She protested. _I want to explore, dammit!_

"What you _want_ to do is irrelevant. What you _will_ do is stay here, in this room, until I get back. Then you can go exploring, but only with supervision. You get lost out there, and there's no telling who will find you." Its not like he wanted to go, in fact staying right here where he was sounded indefinitely more attractive. But he had orders, as much as he'd like to shove them up Vader's behind.

With that he strode out elegantly, cloak swirling behind him to great theatrical effect. The door swooshed closed behind him with a whisper of a hiss, and then all as silent.

Glaring at the door, Mel waited until he was a safe distance away. Striding just as purposely, she tried to get the door to open back up again. But it did not, as neither of them could have heard Obi-wan using his overriding code to keep it locked, and them inside.

In a paroxysm of rage she kicked the obstinate metal, but all she got was a very sore foot, and even sorer pride. "Damn him! How dare he lock us in here?"

"Just relax. There's nothing you can do about it." Katie was a tad annoyed at being left out so, but she really didn't care that much. In fact she was just as ready to fall asleep, lying sprawled across her bed comfortably.

"But I want to do something about it!" She did not know why this was such a big deal, except that it was.

Katie shrugged. "Then pop out the window. We're not high off the ground at all." They'd gotten rooms on a bottom level, and so their windows were all of four feet off of the pavement.

"Brilliant!" Mel snapped her fingers. "But won't they notice when they get back?"

"They'll notice you gone anyway, so why does it really matter?" Katie shrugged again. She wasn't feeling very motivated to go running about and breaking rules. Besides, she really did want that nap… she'd barely gotten any sleep at all the night before.

Dashing into their bathroom, Mel started feeling around the edges of the window. There! The rubber that sealed it had a seam, and after a few moments of struggling she managed to pry it free. The actual pane of glass came out pretty easily, and soon she was wiggling through (it being the convenient size to accommodate her). Sliding down the side she hit the pavement. The bright, violently so sunshine hurt her eyes for a moment, but the heady rush of freedom and rebellion had already taken hold. She could do anything, be anyone, and go anywhere she wanted.

Of course, that she would need to have a way to get back in time so as not to rouse suspicion did not occur to her. Neither did the idea that she might not speak the language, nor know how to get around.

Mel's schemes were all like that, one third planning, one-third improv and one third throwing caution to the wind.

- - -

The sidewalks, as the streets really were, were quite crowded with all manner of life. No one gave her a second glance and most of them not even a first. Despite feeling glaringly human and oddly dressed, she still managed to blend in.

The biggest thing she noticed was the absence of laughter. Everyone (or everything) she passed seemed somewhat serious like they had somewhere very important to go. _Weird… why isn't anyone happy?_

Taking a random left, (it had smelled better than the right) she found a smaller street. It was even more crowded with some sort of otherworldly bazaar and rich with the smells of new foods cooking. The colors were another shock, after the muted whites and blacks of the ship. Reds and violets especially seemed popular, and there were crowds of saffron yellow as well.

Blinking hard against the violent light, she continued down the street. At least one or two shady looking merchants gestured her over, but they were doing that to everyone whom passed.

Taking a right this time, she wandered into a slightly shadier area. There were odd-looking beggars by the sides, and at least four or five shifty pairs of eyes leering from the dark shadows lining the way. She turned back, and was shocked when she realized that the fork she had just walked down was gone. Instead there was a multitude of random branching roads, and all of them even worse than the one she was on. Then she blinked, and the illusion was gone. The fork was back, so dusty and ordinary when compared to the darkly intense ones of before. Shaking her head, she left the road.

Walking a bit faster than before, she wandered into the one establishment in which everyone was happy. No this wasn't the Red Light District, it was a bar.

It was set up much like any ordinary bar, but the drinks listed on the wall were in several languages and characters. Seating herself at one of the swively leather chairs, she spun around once before looking to the people on either side.

One of them, a fairly normal youth except for the horns poking from his thick curly hair, grinned enticingly at her. "Wanna buy some Death Sticks?"

- - -

Katie had dropped off by the time Obi-wan returned to their room, at least an hour and a half later. He stopped dead in the doorway, looking over the empty bed and her own occupied one twice. Dashing over, he began shaking her awake roughly.

"What the hell was that for?" She mumbled groggily, glaring at him through vaguely unfocused eyes.

"Where is she?" He demanded. There was no point in using a name, it was obvious anyway.

"I dunno." She shrugged. It wasn't a complete lie; after all she had no idea exactly where Mel was.

"How can you not know? She was in the same room as you!" he let go and took a quick peek into the only other room possible. The gaping window grinned at him, glass leaning crazily against the sink. There was a breeze coming through, pulling at his clothes and mocking him with its emptiness.

"Damn her." Without another word he strode from the room, looking for all the world like he was on the edge of homicide.

- - -

Obi-wan stormed into Vader's room, slamming the door, still looking homicidal.

Vader whirled around, caught uncharacteristically off-guard. "What do you want?" he demanded, pissed off at having been found at a disadvantage.

Normally, Obi-wan would have been just as annoyed at having to ask for help, but he was angry enough right now not to care. "I want you to send out word, and bring her back."

"Who?" This apparently wasn't his day. Now he looked confused as well.

Obi-wan's death glare grew, if possible, deeper. "_My padawan_. She'd gone running off, and I need her back. Now."

"Find her yourself, she's _your_ padawan." As much as he'd like punishing a disobedient Melissa, he had more important things to do.

"I don't have time either. Now let me use whoever you've got policing this godforsaken city of yours." For once their roles were reversed, and it was Obi-wan who got to yell the orders. This would have given him a sense of power had he not been more worried about finding his errant student.

"Go ahead. I don't care." He shrugged. "They're just not good at being very gentle with prisoners."

"That's half the point." Obi-wan started to leave. "Oh, and I'll be disciplining her myself." Without another word, he stormed from the room.

"How much are they?" Its not like Mel had any money, or whatever they used for currency on her, but she wanted to at least pretend that she fit in.

He grinned at her, playing his own game. "For you, sweetheart, what ever you feel like paying." Its not like he needed the money right now and if he managed to get her hooked… Death sticks were one of the most potent drugs this side of Mustafar, and were the pinnacle of pick your own poison. They could be eaten, smoked, or melted and injected, and taken in basically anyway that you wanted.

Their lovely drug-deal was interrupted by a warning yell of "Levo!" from the front of the establishment. With that, the more shady characters began filtering towards the secret back entrances, to avoid being picked up.

This included the Death Stick man, who disappeared into a crowd without another word. Mel was left sitting, looking vaguely confused. But she was not in limbo long before a squad of five storm troopers surrounded her noisily.

"Resistance is futile." One of them growled at her before she was grabbed and bodily dragged away.

Kicking and screaming, of course. "I didn't do it! I didn't do it! I don't know what you're talking about! I WANT MY PHONE CALL!"

They declined to comment where she could hear it, though this could have meant they were just making fun of her on their radios. Which is exactly what they were doing, and rather enthusiastically. After all, every job needs to have its perks…

- - -

Some time later, a rather more disheveled Mel was dropped to the floor in the main bay. Obi-wan gently prodded her with his boot, face unreadable.

"I didn't do it!" She protested, still confused as to what she had done.

"Really? Then I was wrong to think that diving out a window and running off was a deliberate action. I beg your pardon for the misunderstanding." His voice absolutely dripped sarcasm, as he waved the 'Gestapo'-esque storm troopers off.

"Oh. That." Whoops…

"Yes, that. I suppose it's my fault for encouraging your sense of free will. Turns out, you aren't allowed to leave unless I say you can. Which you won't be for a very long time, as its obvious you aren't up to it." He started walking off stonily, gesturing for her to come along as well.

Getting gingerly to her feet, she trod along behind him, feeling the sore spots speckling her body, which would be turning to bruises soon.

"You're actually rather lucky. I could have turned your over to Vader for yelling at, but I felt that after your bumpy ride you didn't need to be flung against a wall. Of course, if you ever feel the need to run off again…" He commented, hoping to scare her without actually having to do anything to. If she was to eventually help him lead his coup, then she needed to be able to trust him. But he also needed her to obey him… Such reckless disregard to lead to the Dark Side…

Suddenly, he realized how ridiculous he was sounding. He'd broken more than his fair share of rules while at the temple, and it hadn't hurt him. Besides, she'd been upset enough earlier… he should have expected something like this. Sighing, he halted and turned to her. "But then again, I suppose it could have been worse." Waving towards her door, he shooed her off. Change of heart or no change of heart, he still had the window replaced. This time, blastproof.


	5. Chapter 5: Here We Are

Mel plopped down on to her bed. "Hey, Katie-" She began, before realizing that her friend wasn't there. Peeking into the bathroom, she saw the new window but nothing else.

With a frown, she sat back down. Apparently Katie was off hanging with her Master. For a strictly master-padawan relationship, they spent an awful lot of time together. Besides leaving Mel a bit lonely on their off time, it also worried her. Katie had already been a tad morally ambiguous (or had thought she was) and now the increased contact with someone who was definitely evil…

It was worrisome, to say the least.

- - -

"So… how was your nap?" Mel asked pointedly, eyeing her friend as she waltzed in the door some twenty minutes later.

Katie raised an eyebrow, looking a tad taken aback. "Um… yeah. I was. Until he came bursting in and woke me up." She stepped towards her bed to sit down, then paused. If Mel was looking for a fight, then she might as well get ready to storm off in a huff. Katie wasn't very good at deflecting her friend's energy.

"So where were you? I've been hanging around here for ages. If I'm going to be under room arrest I might as well have someone to talk to."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here. I didn't know when you'd be back, so I left." It's not like it was illegal or anything… After all, Obi-wan had forgotten to lock the door again in his preoccupiedness.

"You two spend an awful lot of time together, you know that?" Mel commented, changing the subject.

"What's wrong with that? We're sort of friends." Friends in the loosest sense of the word that was.

"How can you be friends with someone who orders you around?" It was more of a question than an accusation, but there was a definite undercurrent of _why-him_ coupled with _why-not-me_.

"Why are you questioning me? I didn't do anything!" Katie protested, feeling defensive and very put-upon. She hated arguments with her friend, and even more so when she didn't even know what she did.

"Except for leaving me all alone! All the time!" Mel heard her voice rising, and felt bad for it but was unable to do anything. She'd gotten herself worked up, and it was going to stay like that. "When was the last time we actually had a conversation? About anything? Or even spent more than ten minutes in the same room, awake?"

Katie looked stricken. "I didn't realize…" She murmured, feeling suddenly the weight of all that she hadn't realized. _Oh god, I've really screwed it up haven't I?_ Her knees gave way and she sat down heavily. "I'm sorry…"

"Just… try not to do to again, please?" Mel was still mad at her friend, but didn't have the heart to yell at her when she obviously understood. "I need you here for me."

Jumping up, Katie grabbed her friend in a hug, holding her tightly. "I need you too."

They stayed there for several long moments, thinking. Nothing else was said, but there wasn't anything that needed to be. Their moods might change faster than New England weather, and they might be sorely tried by the events ahead, but they'd have each other. As cliché as this might seem, it was more true than they might have wished.


	6. Chapter 6: Signs of Life

"You say **what**?" It was a typical Katie statement, eloquent in the extreme.

"I did not say what. I said that you will now be assigned various chores around the ship. As you obviously can't be trusted on your free time, I need to make sure you don't have any." Obi-wan replied, as sarcastic as ever. "And for that, I'm putting you down for cleaning my bathroom." Chuckling to himself, he watched her face fall. "No, sadly not really. You're going to be untangling wires in the main control room."

Mel chuckled herself, amused at the most interesting expression on her friend's face, as Katie struggled with mixed emotions.

"As for you, you the fun job…" He waited for her face to light up a bit. "Cleaning all the air vents."

Mel shrugged. That actually didn't sound too bad, she'd learn a new way of getting around at least. Which could be useful. She'd gotten off so very lightly after the window business, so why not see what else she could get away with? She had enough time on her hands, as it was.

She just wished she wasn't allergic to dust.

Katie muttered something intelligible (not a first for her) under her breath, glaring at the ball on tangled wires that was larger than her head. It was impossible to tell where the ends where, or if there even _were_ ends to the mess. _I really should be nicer to him in the future…_ she thought to herself_. But then again, it probably won't make much of a difference._ Sighing, she got to work, burying her fingers in the tangle.

"Boo!"

"Ah!" Katie screamed, whirling around wildly and falling off of her chair. Mel was hanging out of the air vent that had been right behind her, and was grinning maniacally. "What the hell was that for?"

"So I could see you do that." Was the smug reply. She'd really only been looking for a small reaction, a face or something, so now she was feeling quite happy. "I mean, how often do I get a scream out of you?"

Katie made a face at her friend, getting back into her chair and picking up the half-untangled mass that had also gone flying. "If you ever do that again…" she paused, trying to think up of a threat awful enough.

"You'll kill me?" Mel prompted, jovially.

"Slowly. Hanging drawing and quartering. Lots of hot pointy things." Katie added, imaginatively.

"Where are you going to get the horses?"

"Starvation first. Dunking. And I'll hang you with this damned electrical wire."

"I still want to know where you're going to get the horses."

"Fine. I won't draw and quarter. I'll just put you through the garbage disposal."

"Do they have one?"

"Your home planet must be a very scary place if it can produce such inventively violent young ladies." Commented one of the usually anonymous, yet ubiquitous technical staff. He was youngish, probably in his late twenties, but rather average looking albeit for a greenish tinge around his face. And, of course, for his ears. They were bizarrely greenish as well, and fin-shaped. Obviously, he had some sort of aquatic creature in his bloodline.

"It is… believe me." Mel commented, overriding Katie's protest that they were nothing. "And she hasn't even gotten past the garbage disposal yet."

Katie made a face at Mel. "She's just lucky I'm not serious. I know where she sleeps, after all."

He looked a tad puzzled, obviously unused to their brand of sarcasm. "But don't you share a room?"

She sighed. "That's sort of what I had meant… But anyway. You obviously know who we are… but who are you?"

He puffed himself up a bit, obviously feeling important. "I am Terryal, head of the Main Control Room, and at your service."

"What do you do, though?" Mel inquired, looking around at the various futuristic and overly-complicated looking 'computer' terminals that filled the room.

"The usual things… nothing special." He replied, shrugging off the question. It also helped that what he had just said was a boldfaced lie. There was nothing routine (as they knew it, that is) or 'usual' about the Main Control Room. That's why it gets to be capitalized every time it's mentioned. Besides, what sort of nice person would he be if he weren't harboring some huge, dark secret?

"How about we do something different?" Usually during Katie's 'private sessions' they worked on force + saber techniques, until she'd actually become rather good at it (of course, not quite as good as her friend. Melissa was a 'natural').

She shrugged. "Sure." Its not like she actually **had** a choice or anything.

He seemed almost excited or at least somewhere halfway to happy. It was unusual, but then again she didn't know him very well. "You know that heat is just particles moving faster, correct?" He waved a hand over the blank papers lying on the table.

She nodded, wondering what this fact had to do with anything.

"So, logically, if you make the particles move faster, then they'll get hotter. If they get hot enough, they combust." While he was talking, the paper directly in front of him had begun shaking violently. After a few seconds the trembling at increased in speed, but the paper was now just vibrating fast. The movement spread to the actual particles of the fibers that made it, until the trembling was no longer visible.

As a sort of anti-climax, the edges promptly burst into flame as he finished speaking.

Katie's eyes widened. That could be quite a useful thing to know how to do, and rather fun as well. She liked fire, not to the extent that a pyromaniac does, but enough that she usually went through a box of matches every month or so. Then again, learning how to make things spontaneously combust was probably much too much of a temptation.

"Generally this is one of the more maligned powers, as most Jedi see it much too borderline Sith. Which makes no sense. After all, nothing is inherently evil, nor is anything inherently good. Good and evil are points of view, and so can only be attributed to those using the power. And even then they are subjective, varying from person to person, situation to situation. Obi-wan would disagree with me here and say that there is a code of morals, and that these define good and evil. Again, the points of view." Pointless philosophizing perhaps, but he wanted to get her on his side. So blurring that line was imperative. Besides, it had been ages since someone had actually listened, and not just because they had to. "But who decided this code? There are always situations that are loopholes of a kind, however unlikely. Again, Obi-wan would disagree and say that such a perfect setup was impossible. But how many Catch-22s should there be, and how often do you run into them?"

She nodded again, putting her head into her hand. He made sense, it was true, and most of what he said she had thought more than once. But surely she shouldn't be thinking so, as wouldn't that be 'fraternizing with the enemy' or something as inane? Who was in the right anyway? Mel wholeheartedly went with Obi-wan's style of thought, but then she'd had her own code of honor for years now. Katie still wasn't sure. She disliked codes and rules in general, though she understood that they were necessary to keep the peace. She'd always enjoyed thinking of herself as neutral. Never actually answering set questions and finding ways to get around black-and-whites was sort of a hobby for her, but what if this time there was no middle ground?

With a mental note to think this over further, she applied herself back to the task at hand.

Fire wouldn't ask her any stupid questions, or make her decide anything. It was her friend.

"You know… for once, I don't think I have the energy to taunt you properly. So why don't you two just spar? I'll sit here and watch, and you get to do all the work." Obi-wan commented lightly. He seemed to be in a better mood than usual, but the circles under his eyes were deeper and darker than the day before.

"Grounded?" Katie sounded a bit disappointed. Grounded had been his term for non-force, as in relying solely on saber technique.

"How about not. After all, we need to give you a fighting chance." Settling himself on the tabletop, he began tuning them out. It wasn't so much not paying attention, as entering a relaxed half-meditative state.

Mel looked a bit wary at the news, but Katie seemed happy enough. They'd recently graduated to into using the actual, live lightsabers instead of wooden or inactive copies, which added a fun danger element to the whole affair. Mel's was the same light blue that Obi-wan's was, but Katie's tended towards a mystifying green.

It started out slowly enough, as they looked for easy openings in each other's guard. It was Mel that threw a curveball first; jumping in with a strike that was a blur of purpose.

Katie jumped back, until she was nearly under one of the platform things. "So when is this over?"

"First blood, usually," He commented dryly, without seeming to be actually looking at either of them.

"Ah." Deciding that the ground was too dangerous, Katie abandoned it in favor of leaping to said platform. "I've got the high ground now." Her lightsaber tip was now roughly level with the other's forehead.

"Doesn't help much." Mel slashed at her knees, which were unguarded.

Leaning forward, Katie 'fell' off of the platform, though the dive was finished off with an entirely graceful (for once) somersault to her feet.

By now the fight has gotten serious, as it speed up and become more of a contest than a simple spar. Who could go faster, jump higher, block fastest, and cut closest.

For once, they were rather evenly matched. Mel had the sabercraft down pat, executing some jazzy new moves and flashy sequences where she was nothing more than a tan and blue streak. Katie leaned more towards the opposite end of the spectrum, uneasy with the actual thing in her hand but instinctive with the use of the otherworldly.

The little battle had just been out to take a lovely epic spin as they dashed around the 'arena', when Katie tripped over a protruding floor tile. She'd been jumping backwards, and it caught her totally off guard. Flying backwards, she slid four feet across the floor on her back.

As they'd been locked hilt-to-hilt moments before, Mel also fell forwards. Her saber, more on instinct than any thought to injure, snapped to the front as well. This meant that the edge dragged along the inside of Katie's left forearm, and leaving a long, shallow cut.

The unique thing about a lightsaber is that there **is** an edge of sorts, though it is made of the laser light-beam thing. This meant that any cuts by one both bleed profusely, and burnt the edges into a nice, long-lasting scar.

Hissing an obscenity to herself, Katie tossed the lightsaber to the side and clutched at her arm.

Mel's eyes widened. She hadn't really been trying to hurt anyone, and she hadn't been thinking about what she was doing at the time. "Are you all right?"

"As all right as anyone who's bleeding, I suppose." Katie didn't sound annoyed, just like she was gritting her teeth.

Obi-wan was devoid of emotion as he directed them, Mel to put the sabers away and Katie as to how to properly staunch the wound.

As her friend was directed off towards the medical droid room at the other end of the ship, a rather letdown Mel was left to clean the blood off of the spotless white flooring.


	7. Chapter 7: Better Together

"Where are we going, again?" Katie asked. Its not like she hadn't already been told, it was just amusing to try to annoy Obi-wan when he looked as irritable as he did now.

"Absolutely nowhere." He'd gotten barely any sleep the night before and really wasn't in the mood for the two of them. At least, not for chaperoning the two of them throughout a city. A very large, dangerous, crowded city at that. But then again, since when had things gone according to his mood?

"What did you mean by formal wear?" Mel asked. This was a genuine question, as she'd been listening when he'd explained earlier. She was enjoying herself, happy to be outside (legally, for once) and was hoping to convince him into giving them a tour.

"Something that means I can take you out in public and not be embarrassed." He replied. What a sad state of affairs. Reduced to a nanny.

"Which would be?" Katie piped up, curious as to whether it would be anything remotely earthly.

"Something with a muzzle." He needed a drink.

- - -

The particular tailors trusted with the business of the Empire were off of the main drag, in a very posh looking building. The interior was not as polished looking, being a little heavy on the white marble and gold motif.

"How's this for illusions of grandeur?" Obi-wan muttered half to him, half to them. "They were poor as dirt when they had morals, turned into sycophantic little ticks and managed to redo their living room into a tacky marble palace. Its disgusting, really." He leaned on one of the lesser mahogany monstrosities masquerading as counters, dinging the silver bell marked 'for service'.

Katie, catching his comment, looked up at him oddly. He was a fine one to talk… its not like they gave out high advisory posts in this Empire-thingy without having you apply first.

The girl who appeared first on the stairway looked reasonably normal, that is she seemed to be completely human. 'Normal' was probably an inadequate adjective, given that she was draped entirely in washed-out gold to match the décor. Entirely, that is, not counting the strategic cuts revealing cleavage and artfully tattooed midriff. "I presume you have an appointment?" She asked archly, in a voice more suited for a call girl than the receptionist she apparently was.

Obi-wan straightened, managing to look down his nose at her despite the fact that she was still halfway up the stairs. "Appointment? We are here with regards from Lord Vader himself-"

Apparently remembering this at last, the poor girl looked stricken. "Oh… I'm so terribly sorry," She insisted smoothly, flying down the stairs, in a voice layered with as many notes of honey and sugar possible. Delicately shoving Obi-wan into one of the overly plush lounge chairs, she grabbed onto Mel and Katie and began dragging them off to one of the other rooms. Though she was a slight creature, this hurt, as her nails were something like three inches long.

The fitting room, or whatever it was, was rather cold. Thankfully the scary receptionist lady handed them off to a much saner looking tailor(ess). "There's a screen over there," She pointed out in a surprisingly feline purr. "Keep your underthings on, mind."

At least this room was significantly warmer than the last; so as to keep those scantily clad comfortable. It was also much more tastefully done, in muted shades of beige and grey. The floor was stone, in dark brown, but it had been heated somehow and was actually quite pleasant.

Mel undressed rather gracefully, despite the four or five layers she was wearing, but Katie had somehow gotten the innermost layer twisted around her head, and was stuck.

"Mel… I need heeellllppp…" She moaned, hopping about futilely.

"Oh, god Katie, how **did** you manage that?" Mel muttered. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered…

The mysterious formal wear turned out to be two full-length dresses. One was black and tied with a satiny red ribbon; the other was the reverse. Black and red being, of course, the official colors of the Empire. There was a brief spat as they fought over the black one, Katie winning.

Not that the actual dresses were anything amazing, as they were simple sweetheart necklines (strapless), tailored to their forms and long, long 'skirts'.

After the relative fun of trying those on came the not-so-fun part: winter gear. Though Obi-wan had declined to warn them about this, apparently the next planet was a cold one.

Things like fur-lined parkas, that topped thick fur-lined shirts, and more layers of various furs were thrust upon them, despite the warmth of the room. As this soon amounted to something like eight layers of clothing, Katie couldn't help feeling a tad like a penguin as she waddled around.

- - -

Obi-wan was actually enjoying himself, which was a first for the day. He'd ditched the padawans (which had involved a very intricate method of slipping by the receptionist/whore girl) and had found his much-needed drink.

Or two. In fact, it might be a good idea if he stopped drinking, given that it was a tad early to get soused. Money wasn't the issue (he could put it on the government's tab) but the slight problem of finding his way back drunk.

The nice hole-in-the-wall pub he'd found on chance was quite nice as well, well lit and quiet. The house larger had looked good, but he'd always preferred whiskey or scotch when he got the chance. It was still on the law-abiding side of town, as there seemed to be only one rather hesitant Death Stick dealer.

Idly picking up one of his empty glasses and peering through the wavy glass at the bottom, he thought to himself. _Death Sticks. Now there's something new. I could kill myself, but have fun doing it._

Chuckling and sounding rather deranged, he got up. Sweeping the glasses together he tipped the barmaid, before waltzing out a bit unsteadily.

Now… where was he going, again?

- - -

As they stood there in the echoingly empty receiving room, Katie gently ran her fingers of the scar forming on her arm. It was still raw and sore, but was actually shaping up to be rather attractive, as scars went. It curved into the middle of her forearm, and ran straight then curved up off of her wrist. There was an almost vine or plant curvature to it, and with properly designed tattoos, could look entirely deliberate.

In fact, that was what Obi-wan had suggested. Katie had actually been considering that, but Mel had looked severely guilty. Not that she shouldn't be, but it had been an accident.

Unfortunately they were standing there for a very long time, as Obi-wan did not show up. Sighing in irritation, Mel plopped into the cushy leather chair he had vacated some hour and a half ago. Casually kicking the coffee table, she didn't see the piece of paper lying on it, addressed to her.

But Katie did. Leaning over from her chair opposite Mel, she summoned the paper to her through the Force. It obliged, gliding nicely into her open palm with a graceful flutter.

The handwriting was familiar enough, as they'd seen him write on many occasions. Neat and slanted, the letters were formed unfailingly correctly, but the ends looped together with an altogether gentlemanly feel to it. It read: '_off to get a drink. Don't bother waiting, I'll forget. Head back when you're done, but don't get lost, don't take shortcuts and remember not talk to strangers._' Feeling certain that they'd know who wrote the note, he had neglected to sign it with even an initial.

Katie frowned, and sent the note gliding back to her companion. "He seems real concerned about our getting lost, now, doesn't he. Don't talk to strangers. Really…"

Mel shrugged. "He's right. That's the problem." She was looking forward to traipsing about the city, but it would be nice if that didn't end in them getting unceremoniously carted off by the white plastic Gestapo.

"Nice of him to leave such detailed directions though." Trace, trace, trace. The sarcasm was deeply apparent in her voice, as well as her scorn for the subject in general.

"Leave him alone. It's probably some calculated training thing, or something." Beating on him while he wasn't there was hardly fair, though she did sound a tad overly indignant. Crumpling the paper and then hurriedly smoothing it out, Mel pocketed it.

"Yeah. How to get hopelessly lost in urban areas, 101." This whole affair was getting irritatingly one-sided. There wasn't anything that sneering would improve, besides her feelings. And while (hopefully) reducing his god-image in _her_ eyes…

- - -

Thanks in part to the attention Mel had paid, and also to the fact that it was the largest black blotch on the entire visible landscape, finding their way back was rather easy. It also reinforced the idea that all the time they'd spent bickering was longer than how long it took them to actually do it.

As they stood there in the main bay, they realized they had absolutely no idea that they were supposed to do right then. Obi-wan had neglected to inform them of that part of their schedule. Mel was all for just chilling, but Katie (oddly enough) looked a bit uncomfortable with that proposition.

"I dunno… I was planning to-" She began, before being interrupted by Mel.

"Go off and spend it 'learning'. I know." Mel looked a tad annoyed. "I should be annoyed that I'll be all alone, but when _aren't_ you off hanging around him?"

Katie looked slightly taken aback, but more defensive than the former. Mel had done this before, and she'd learned that she should just ignore it. Not that she ever did what she was supposed to. "Whats _with_ you?" She muttered, but walked off to go find something to do that didn't involve her friend.

Mel was left standing there, feeling wronged. Shaking her head over how very transparent Katie could be at times, she wandered off to the main training room. If she didn't have anything to do, she might as well practice.

- - -

"No… More like this." He adjusted where she was holding her arms, hands impartial. After all, she was just a student…

Or at least they were. He paused, fingers lingering as they were clasped gently about her wrists. She was staring at him, or at least making uncommon eye contact. They were blue, a simple blue, with tinges of a lighter grey inside them. Why hadn't he noticed before? Probably because she'd determinedly been avoiding his eyes… The act of making deliberate eye contact was an act that bespoke at least of a superficial intimacy. The eyes showed nearly all emotions, all strong feelings and whether one was lying or not, so to make direct eye contact could be considered risky. Besides, he knew his own eyes were of an unusual, if not disturbing color.

"And...?" She asked, voice hesitant.

"And now you slide the tip to the right," He continued, directing the saber she held. But as he talked her through the sequence, his mind was far removed from the subject… though closer at hand than that might imply.

Not that they were anything but the most impartial musings. She was just a student, after all.

- - -

Mel hummed softly to herself, a mixture of the Indiana Jones theme and one she'd heard on some random sci-fi show. It had the right balance of an epic battle feel, and noble hero theme to it. Whizzing about in a dramatic circle, playing her soundtrack in her head… she was entirely shocked when her lightsaber collided with another, loudly.

It was none other than Obi-wan. He was looking more under the weather than usual, as his eyes were much more bloodshot and he looked more off-balance. "Sorry about earlier." His voice didn't seem it, as light and sarcastic as usual.

Mel frowned, hero moment over. He was probably just pushing her buttons, but now she had a lightsaber in her hand, her own razor wit, and the promise of a challenge.

He was going to be sorry.

"I really don't think fighting drunk is good for your health. You might trip." Mel angled in a block, tip slashing at his ankles.

He backed up and around smoothly, catching and twisting her saber to the side. "You've entered this battle of wits unarmed, young padawan." He attempted a disarm, though she countered with a move he had showed them just the other day. "Good. I'm glad to see you actually listen to me."

"You flatter yourself." Mel tried to keep her face and voice as offhand as possible, but he was really good. Which should come as no surprise, even as intoxicated as he was.

"You flatter yourself in trying to fight me." He seemed utterly relaxed, as though he could do this sort of thing in his sleep. Mel, obviously, was not that bad, it was just an image that he had chosen to most keep her off-guard. "I was a protégé at this before you knew how to walk."

Mel attempted a sophisticated raised eyebrow response. "You're that young? But from your worldly views, Great Master, I thought you were much older than that." The eyebrow dropped. "That and your grey hair."

"I do not have grey hair." He replied, looking a tad (honestly) offended. "But then, you are too young to understand the true meaning of age." He was surprisingly graceful; acting more like this was an elaborate dance than a sparring match. He was barely breathing heavily either, though there was a gleam in his eye that bespoke how very happy he was to finally get to honorably defeat someone.

"I may be young, but you are having delusions of grandeur." She needed to get off of the defense, and on to the offense. He'd win hands down once he managed to tire her out, and he could definitely last longer than she. "Listen to yourself. Your sarcasm is just a front for your emotional emptiness. You can't let anyone in, and you compensate by keeping everyone as far away as possible." She dodged, and tried to swing the battle onto his end. "Did you have an unsatisfactory home life?"

He snorted, quite amused by her new tactic. The problem was, half of it was much too right, as after the whole fiasco he'd tried to keep from forming any bonds that would hurt him if broken. "I didn't have a home life. Children are screened at four in most civilized systems, and then brought to the academy." Well, they _were_ screened. The new empire has entirely different rules and approaches to things like that.

"See? Torn from a loving family early. Brought up in the cruel, emotionally distant Academy." Mel was feeling a bit better about her skills, proud she has lasted this long. All she needed was for him to drop his guard for a moment or two, and she'd have him. If, that is, they were playing by first blood.

He tried to keep a straight face, but started laughing. Mel jumped at the chance, flinging herself forward and managing to cut a large chunk out of his sleeve. But he was faster than she was, and recovered insanely quickly. With a bit of a whoop, he disarmed her in the same motion as he got his hilt against her throat and her against the back wall. "My parents didn't care. The Academy provides some compensation, and they jumped for it. I don't even remember them." He looked down at the slit in his sleeve. "That was good, but not good enough." Mentally, he chided himself for letting her get so close. _Getting slow, are you, Obi-wan? Complacent, with all this desk work. Three years ago, she'd have lasted all of a minute with you_.

"But, overall, good job." He let her go, and gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I enjoyed it." He turned to walk off, but remembered something. "If you're stuck all alone again, you can come talk to me. I have the free time."


	8. Chapter 8: Someday Soon

"Now, before we go throwing you to the wolves, I felt it would be best to torture you first." Obi-wan was looking more forced cheerful than usual, probably at their expense. "See, there are going to be all sorts of painfully pointless formal occasions you'll be going to. So you'll be stuck taking dance lessons first."

Mel looked interested in learning what constituted as a 'dance', but Katie looked slightly stricken. She had never been very graceful, and lack of a sense of rhythm made the situation worse. "But, why now?" She asked, wanting to prolong the experience.

"Because I said so. And because our next stop is on a planet that has its own self-declared aristocracy, and they demand all sorts of formal parties." Not that it would be that bad. He actually liked Hoth, though mostly for its deceptive skill. It was the hotbed of the resistance, yet managed to come off as the useless sycophant more often than not. The only problem was that it was cold. Much too cold for his taste, not that he'd show it.

"So where are we going? What's it like?" Mel inquired, curious. She was throwing herself into this much more readily than her friend was, gung-ho for any change of scene.

"Cold. Very much so. Just a sort of icy desert, a huge cold one. Believe me, your Antarctic had nothing on this." He would have liked to answer her questions more in depth, but he was still being plagued by doubt. He'd agreed to something he was deeply regretting, and had taken that he agreed in the first place to mean he was slipping even further. It was far too easy for it to go wrong, and horribly so. It was also a very low sort of scheme, one that even Vader looked uncomfortable about having to go through with. But the Emperor got what he wanted, regardless.

- - -

The music was a badly done sort of techno waltz-thing, or at least that's what it seemed like to Katie. More likely it was being played right, and this was just what was considered music. She didn't like it.

Mel, as usual, was getting into things. She was swaying to the beat, and watching the 'instructor' intently as though she was actually enjoying the experience. More likely, she was getting her mind off of the red dress.

Though they had been identical except for coloring when they'd tried them one, there were now subtle differences. Katie's had a fuller, more ballroom type skirt the better to disguise her pear shape. Mel's was a bit less daring in its cleavage, though it was more because she'd seemed uncomfortable than because she was lacking.

The dance was similar to the waltz that they were used to, though it had an element of spontaneity that they weren't used to. There were twirls and spins that seemed utterly random, but apparently had some huge pattern behind them depending on all these other variables. But thankfully they didn't have to worry about those, as they wouldn't be leading anyway.

Once she felt that she'd gotten a hold of it, Mel looked over to see what her friend was thinking about. Katie was standing awkwardly, arms crossed and lips pursed. She didn't look like she was paying attention so much as spacing off, soaking up the general atmosphere of the room. She also looked dark, contemplative, and more than willing to kill not to be there.

- - -

The actual departure from Corsucant was uneventful. The stabilizers had finally been replaced, put in in the first place, or repaired, so there was no massive lurch in any direction. Because of this Katie did not realize they had actually left until she happened to pass by a window.

Things were beginning to fall together into a bit of a pattern, now that they'd been in the swing of things for quite sometime. It was almost impossible to figure out how long they'd been there, or what month it was. Most systems used different methods of time keeping, so there was no need for the ship to have any sort of calendar of its own. With no weekends, the weeks blended together as did the days.

As their own home planet was on an outer rim, the journey from it to Corsucant had been very long. This next jaunt was not, as the two planets were relatively close together. Of course, had the ship not been so immensely large hyperspace could have gotten them there in a matter of minutes instead of days, but the displacement of space would have been too large. This would have caused some sort of dreadful effect on the planet they were leaving, or so Obi-wan had said. Sometimes it was difficult to tell when he was being serious and when he was not.

It was difficult not to feel alone, despite the large number of people aboard. Most were rather busy doing whatever it was that they did, and even the ones that were not did not connect easy with others. Things had been lukewarm between Katie and Mel, as neither was particularly happy nor particularly angry with the other. It was a doldrums of mediocrity, a boring neutrality that seemed determined to squash all emotion of any kind.

Most of the more interesting activity had been suspended until their arrival, and there was more a sense of waiting than anything else pervading the ship. Even the little better than disastrous 'dancing' lessons had ended, at last, with a mutual agreement that there would be no attempts at dancing at all.

The only thing that had gotten anymore interesting was the Force lessons, as they began tackling the thorny issue of mind control. It was an exceedingly useful talent, though the moral implications were numerous and inconclusive. With a wave of your hand you could help save someone's life, or you could make him or her do whatever you wanted.

But as they were pretty much forbidden to use them on each other, or on anyone else important, it was rather useless on the ship. Of course there would be helpless bystanders on the planet once they got there, but Obi-wan had made it obvious that they wouldn't be allowed anywhere unaccompanied. And as he was the only one he deemed worthy of being an accompaniment, that was the end of that idea.

Of course, not everyone found their boredom amusing. As the ship's kitchen had picked up a large load of shellfish while in port (to satisfy those of a more aquatic bent), they were put to work de-shelling them.

Thrilling, eh?


	9. Chapter 9: Chain Reaction

It was a rare occasion, as all four of the master-padawans were currently in the same room, and none of them were attempting (however politely) to kill anyone else. But the situation was no fun party as you might imagine; they were actually meeting to discuss various things involved with the visit to Hoth.

It was also a sort of semi-rehearsal for the same, which required Mel to wear the dress she was rapidly coming to despise. The redness was rather overpowering in such large amounts, and she'd wanted the black one anyway.

Obi-wan was in the middle of instructing them on the proper way to use the various new and suspicious looking utensils, when there was a loud BANG. Naturally, everyone stood up and began making the usual stupid remarks that follow such happenings, such as "Wonder what that was." "You have any idea?" "What was that?" though there was absolutely no chance of them actually being answered.

Unfortunately, the BANG was followed by a sudden lurch of almost an entire 90 degrees. Mel grabbed onto a table, but that didn't help much as this began sliding too. Katie also tried to grab onto the most stable object within her reach, which turned out to be Vader himself.

Before long the world had righted itself, though there was another great lurch as they set down not so gently on a hard surface. Mel was still partially upright, hanging on for dear life to her table. Obi-wan looked rather unfazed. Though the abrupt tilt had startled him, he had enough mad Jedi skill to keep himself on his own two feet.

Katie as well had had a relatively easy time herself, though she looked rather embarrassed to be discovered hanging off of Vader like a typical, love struck teen. Letting go rather hastily, she looked about for something to comment on.

"Well. Apparently Mujab was mistaken." Obi-wan commented, referring to the less-than-reliable tech supposedly in charge of replacing the stabilizers. He didn't look very concerned, more like this was an amusing addition to his day.

"I'm going to kill him." Vader looked much less than amused; though his face showed little emotion. Without another word he strode from the room.

"Did either of you like Mujab much?" Obi-wan commented, again as lightly as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

"He was nice. Why?" Mel dusted off her hands, noting with a bit of bitter disappointment that she hadn't managed to rip her skirt.

"Because I wouldn't be surprised if he made good on that threat." This comment seemed to be addressed to Katie more than Mel was; though the other girl wasn't listening.

- - -

As it turned out, the disturbance had been due to the fact that they had just made good their landing on the Ice planet. True to Obi-wan's word it was exactly as he had described it. Large, cold, and empty. Every here and there large half-globes were sunk into the crust, which served as both a base for the diamond mining business and to provide livable quarters for the people that worked said mines. The ship docked into one of the largest, where the current family-in-power was situated. This was how most of the 'governing' of sorts was done, whoever currently had the most money was given the most power.

Obi-wan found this a sad state of affairs given the thriving democracy that had been from Before, but that was the price you paid.

Mel was slightly less gung-ho to go exploring, but the desire to get out was still nearly overpowering. After having been worn down by a near hour of constant begging, Obi-wan had agreed to take her outside, though he was starting to regret the promise. She'd looked so very discouraged when he'd turned her down the first forty-two times, so he'd relented, but bouncing about on the back of a tauntaun for hours with an overexcited student was not going to be fun.

Of course, things snowballed after he'd reluctantly agreed, with Katie pressuring her own Master to get them out of the artificial atmosphere of the ship. Surprisingly enough he had agreed as well, though he'd made sure to send Obi-wan plenty of irritated looks behind their backs.

In any rate, this culminated in exactly what the poor, put-upon and tirelessly worked Master Kenobi (bundled up in nearly fifteen layers until he looked like a penguin) following his student about on the back of the thing that looked like it should have died out a few hundred million years ago. That is, after the obligatory snowball fight.

Poof! The massive chunk of snow landed square on Obi-wan's ear, sending uncomfortable wet melty bits down his neck. _I wonder who did that…_ he thought, with as much sarcasm as he spoke.

Of course, Mel spoiled the entire 'secret' charade by giggling loudly. He sighed, looking down at the saddle morosely. This was going to be a long ride But at least it was with someone he could mess with… Without turning around, he caused an equally large chunk to go flying into her face.

"This means war!"

- - -

Katie was having about as much fun as her counterpart, though it was in a less obvious way. As there was an obvious but unstated rivalry between the two, Vader had made sure that they'd started out earlier.

They were also taking a more 'educational' view of it, as he was more giving a tour of notable spots than just chilling in the open air. The landscape was admittedly beautiful, once you got past the cold. There was no wind at all that day, and what sun got through the clouds illuminated the shiny silver coatings of ice on the outcroppings.

The point they were trying to reach was a large, impressively deep crevice (known creatively as The North Crevice) to the north, which had all the effect of an icy Grand Canyon. The edges were uneven, and wickedly jagged as though they would be sharp if you touched them, and great fells of snow blunted the sharpness at intervals. Altogether, it was breathtakingly beautiful.

With a small gasp, Katie drew off the goggles to take a better look. "Oh my god…" She whispered. It was all she could say.

He looked vaguely happy, mostly at the idea of having managed to please her. Not that he had realized that this was any sort of motive at all until she'd looked up at him, eyes full and shining…

A deep-throated bellowing to their left shattered what could have been a sentimentally lovely moment.

"What the hell was that…?" Katie asked, looking back at him thought this time it was more from fear than any wonderment.

Though he could have responded coolly, or even mockingly, something stopped him. Perhaps it was the way she was looking at him. Or the way he found himself looking back. "Wampa." He replied. "Nasty yeti-like thing, hides out the caves waiting for travelers to walk by. Huge, bad-tempered, and it'd just love to eat us." Thinking quickly, he dismounted. Reaching into a deep pocket, he drew his lightsaber. Turning its head to the side he slit the underbelly of the tauntaun, making a face as it slid to the ground, stinking. "This should keep it busy, and off of our trail."

Without another word he jumped up on her unharmed animal, taking hold of the reins. Katie did not say anything either, though she found her heart was in her mouth at the idea of being so very, very close to him.

If she weren't certain it was just the effect of all the fresh air, she'd swear she was in love.

- - -

Mel keyed in her password sometime later, happier than she'd been in a while. She'd just had a wonderful time outside, and even managed to score a genuine compliment from Obi-wan about her snowball-making technique. Some of the guards at the building's entrance had joined them, turning it into a rather vicious war. Mel's group had dubbed themselves the insurgents, and managed to capture Obi-wan's group's main fort. This had lead to a triumphant victory, with them ceremoniously whitewashing several of the more irritating opponents (obviously Obi-wan would have killed anyone attempting that on **him**, so Mel had to be content with getting snow down the back of his neck).

Much to her surprise Katie was already in the room, and looking rather happy as well. Katie was standing in front of the mirror brushing her drying hair, humming (on key, for once) the song _'A Whole New World'_ from the movie _Aladdin_.

"Wow." Mel began stripping off her heavy outer layers, sending drops of water flying everywhere. "You find a diamond lying on the ground somewhere? Or was it just a shiny rock?"

Katie chuckled, making a face at the mirror so Mel could see. "No… I'm just happy. The outing put me in a good mood, that's all." She went back to humming.

Mel grabbed a towel and began drying off her own sodden locks. "Whatever you say… but oh man, it was brilliant. Me and Obi-wan had the most extreme snowball fight…"

"That sounds great! I would have loved to get him with a snowball…" She made a throwing motion, nearly whacking the mirror with her brush.

"Yeah, but he was really good. So we got these others to play, turned into a giant war." Looking around, Mel found Katie's stash of bobby pins. Using them as the people, she re-enacted the day's epic battle.

This led to a pleasant hour or so they spent just talking, and being together. Though Mel hinted at it several times, Katie never did explain what had made her so happy. After all, she was probably just hallucinating. And even if she weren't, it wouldn't come to anything right? Not that her friend would approve anyway…


	10. Chapter 10: Back Talk

"So the plan is…" Obi-wan's voice trailed off as he realized that no one was listening to him. Of course this was not an _unusual _situation, but he actually had something important to say this time. Looking displeased, he grumbled a bit to himself. Yes, he knew that no one enjoyed these sort of pre-hours-of-hell speeches, but this was important!

Not surprisingly Vader was ignoring him as well, but that was only to be expected. After all, Vader was much to important (_he_ thought) to be doing any sort of informing of the masses, and since he already knew there was little need to pay attention. He was also looking a little more pensive than normal, looking out into the empty space as though there were conflicting things on his mind.

"**_Anyway_**," Obi-wan continued pointedly, reaching out to flick both absent-minded padawans in the head (hard). "The current 'government' is headed by the pair of self-declared Aristocrats Ianthe and Cynric. The diamond business can be cutthroat when times are _as hard as they have been_," He emphasized that for no reason apparent to them. "They will be civil, and sweetly so, but do not expect any sort of genuine friendliness. They are not a friendly people, and these are two of the most cold-blooded people I have ever had the misfortune to meet. You are going to be introduced as Apprentices, which you are, but there's no need to discuss anything with anyone." Read: Keep your mouth shut! "I know you would be considered underage on your own planet, but there will be drinking and it is _extraordinarily_ rude to refuse. Just keep things in moderation. You will also be functioning as our formal escorts, as…" He trailed off, waiting for his compatriot to take his cue.

"As this is a potentially hostile situation, We," It was the royal we again. "Have arraigned for a double to assume the identity of Darth Vader. So for a night, I'm my own entourage." Vader commented. It was actually a much easier thing to do than it sounded, as anyone that was a similar height/body build could wear the suit and appear to be Darth Vader. Very few people knew who Darth Vader **really** was, and they didn't matter.

Katie had to admit (to herself, never out loud) that the evening didn't seem to be half as bad anymore. The prospect of trying to eat whatever sort of twisted thing they served politely was close to horrifying, but … No. She was acting pathetically, like she always seemed to whenever her heart gave the tiniest flutter. She should be more like Mel, and grow a backbone. Straightening, she looked back at Obi-wan as if patiently awaiting orders.

Mel was looking rather unconcerned, except for the fact that she _still_ didn't like the red dress. "What kind of food are they going to be serving?" She asked, sounding wary. They were still adjusting to the piles of weird things that were thrown around casually by the ship's chefs, and it might look bad if she refused to eat.

"I'm not sure. Hoth food is usually pretty strong-flavored and hot, as its so bland and cold outside. Lots of spicy, but oddly enough plenty of potatoes. Not a lot of fruits since they don't grow very well, but there are plenty of interesting vegetables they can force to produce under ground." Obi-wan, personally, disliked Hoth food. He disliked Hoth people, their weather, their décor, their accent… basically, the entire damned planet. What could he say? It was genetic. No one else from his own home planet liked it, considering it a large waste of water. Curiously enough, the other natives of Naboo did like the diamonds though this was more of a shiny complex than a redeeming feature.

"How should we address them?" Mel pestered, wanting to come off right and hopefully impress them. Her innate charisma was helpful, though it wouldn't save her looking like a complete heathen if she did something stupid.

"Lord and lady." Obi-wan answered, looking glad that his padawan seemed interested in at least some of the customs. It was also good ammunition for a better-padawan argument, if he could provoke Vader into one. Not that he'd _ever_ had a problem provoking people…


	11. Chapter 11: LongCoolWoman ina BlackDress

They rejoined about an hour later, as the Masters had had some other 'important' business to take care of, and the girls had needed time to get dressed properly (and, of course, do their make-up).

Not that Mel had been thinking to bring any. Its not that she was unfeminine, so much that she a) forgot, and b) didn't ever wear much.

That was more where Katie was concerned, as she'd brought at least half of her stash in her bag. She hadn't worn any in forever, as they'd only been jumping about and doing school related stuff. Now what she wouldn't have felt before she came seemed weirdly heavy and false. As Mel (against popular demand) shared the cosmetics, Katie was digging about in the unused suitcase. She was looking for her collection of jewelry, something else she hadn't worn in a long while due to practical reasons.

Mel had already claimed a black lace choker, refusing point-blank to wear any more red. But she left her ears unadorned, not wanting to deal with the new feeling (she also hardly wore earrings, despite having her ears pierced). Katie, on the other hand had already decked out her own ears, wearing a pair of red drops on silver strings that hooked to her second hole, and cuffed on her upper ear. Around her neck went a necklace Mel had given her for her birthday a year or two ago, consisting of black string from which a blood-red drop hung (just long enough to rest where her cleavage began).

As they all assembled in the main bay, Obi-wan couldn't help admitting that they really did look stunning. Personally he felt his padawan looked best, silkily beautiful with a playfully dangerous edge, and enough polish to hide the latter. But then, she always looked pretty even when her hair was sweaty and she was ready to drop. Weirdly enough, he thought she looked her best with the live lightsaber in her hand, matching her loveliness with purpose. Some might have said she deserved to be bedecked in the finest gold, but he knew that she would not be happy as decoration alone. But then, he was unique, as this was an entirely impartial musing. She was a student and a friend, but no more.

Vader would have disagreed as to who was the more beautiful, had he been able to hear Obi-wan's thoughts. Katie looked as good as her friend, though in a slightly different way. She wore black more often than not, and the color emphasized her fair skin. It was hardly a vampiric effect, simply a more dramatic one than wearing blue would have done. One of the more obvious differences between her and her friend had less to do with their looks than their moods. Mel seemed confidant though not overly so, just enough to seem comfortable. Katie looked more like she wished she were far away, her natural confused air at a new situation compounded by wide eyelinered eyes.

They were not the ideal of beauty as far was Hoth was concerned as they were far to fair (one from genetics, the other from the time of artificial light); but any of the young men who were not blind could be expected to want a turn around the floor with them.

Obi-wan was all set to let it happen, as he had no desire to dance himself. He was confident that his padawan could take care of herself, and was actually looking forward to seeing her crush the poor boys' hopes and dreams.

But this was all rather pointless musing. What would happen would happen, whether he liked it or not. Usually not. But it came with the job, he supposed. That's what you got for hobnobbing with the bureaucracy.

Deciding to interrupt his lovely thoughts was none other than the creature Terryal, looking uncomfortable as he wrestled with the large black helmet. He was the 'body double', someone important enough to know the answers but not irreplaceable, and conveniently about the same height as Vader. "You ready?" He asked, addressing the group in deliberately light-hearted manner.

If Obi-wan didn't know better, he would have sworn the fish-boy was looking a little green.

- - -

There was no grand staircase of mahogany and marble for them to descend, but there was a rather nice arch of wrought iron and steel. The motif was tendrils of ivy and leaves, an odd choice of a foyer on a large snowball. It was; however, fitting with the air of nouveau riche that permeated through the entire section.

'Darth Vader' went first, managing to pretend an air of menace that almost matched that of the real one. The room was set up with a small dais underneath the arch, which was set with a long, elegant wood table. There were several others set up on the 'lower floor', though not half as nice.

Katie realized something at a rather inopportune moment, a result of her lack of hindsight. "What am I supposed to call you?" She hissed to her disguised master, as she hung off his arm.

He paused for a second, as he'd managed to overlook that particular point himself. "Skywalker." He replied, leaning in so that only she could hear him.

"Skywalker." She replied, nodding. It was no curiouser a name than either Vader or Obi-wan, though she did wonder where he'd gotten it. An alias, perhaps?

Mel was much more interested in looking around than Katie was, or even her escort was. Granted, he'd seen it all before, but they might changed something. From what she could tell, they seemed like very fancy people. The plates were gilded, the utensils were elaborately shaped, and even the tablecloth matched the satin lacy napkins. It was also very devoid of color. She was wearing the only gold in the entire room, it seemed, and even the settings were in shades of neutral. Whites, greys and blacks seemed to be the only colors allowed, but wouldn't they get tired of it? It was hardly colorful outside either.

But then, perhaps the hostess had something to do with this. Her eyes, wide with snake-like slitted pupils, were a shade of the deepest violet. Ianthe's hair was a shade of white-blond, she was very fair-skinned, and even her dress, the color of smoke, seemed to enhance the feeling of utter insubstantiality. An ethereal figure, she did not walk but _floated_ up to her newly arrived guests. As much as her body seemed fragile, her face was not. Sharply angled and pointy, it conveyed a sense of fey strength. Her ears were elfin, and her fingers long and slender. But she had filed her nails to points sharp enough to draw blood, and there was a wicked looking diamond on her left hand.

Her consort seemed to be a deliberate antithesis to her entire effect. Solid as a glacier, he was nearly a head taller than the woman who was not short herself. His hair was a deep shade, nearly black with a blue sheen to it. His face was not sharp, but nor was it stupidly blunt. Rather it seemed to have smoothed edges, and was impassive. He was wearing black, which seemed to be the color of the evening as well as accentuating his only spots of color. These were, of course, his icy aquamarine eyes. It was arresting to see how well the two aristocrats personified their homeland. She brought to mind the keen, vicious arctic wind, he one of the mountainous glaciers that carved rock.

Melissa was finding it intriguing to contrast the various people there. Though he was not wearing a single gem or clothes other than his Jedi robes, Obi-wan managed to look equally impressive. It was in a quieter way, but through sheer force of personality he could make the finer peacocks fall silent when he wished to speak.

She herself felt like an impostor, feeling the red of her dress jump out like a yell. None of the other guests had a color nearly as bright, as they were all in the blacks and greys and whites. But she did see at least one or two of the younger ladies eye it enviously, wishing their dress was a color half as daring. Straightening, she faced them proudly. To hide or shrink from the birds of prey would do no good.

Katie was more wishing not to be seen. She felt like an idiot, suddenly realizing how very small and insignificant she was. What did she know that would be of any use? There were plenty of armed guards at the sides, and she simply couldn't shake the feeling of being surrounded. Closing her eyes for a moment she berated herself again. Hiding behind _anyone_, as powerful as he may be, was not a good idea. When in Rome one does as the Romans. Opening her eyes she composed her face carefully, meeting Lady Ianthe's gaze squarely.

The dinner commenced without much talk, everyone seeming to know who everyone was. Obviously the poor Terryal could not eat, and so was stuck sitting looking impressive for the hour or so it would take.

The quartet was seated at the very end of the dais table, as they were (or masquerading as) lesser people. It seemed a normal, or at least not very extraordinary, fancy dinner. But there was lots, and lots to drink. The waiters (looking completely human and therefore an oddity) served the drinks first, letting the diners choose from a long list of exotic alcohol.

Seeing the grey-suited servers approaching, Obi-wan looked up and met Skywalker's gaze. They looked at each other, just looked, for a long moment before the darker one nodded. Satisfied, Obi-wan nodded as well. Altogether, a cryptic exchange.

Katie lost the unspoken contest and had to order first, picking champagne. It was the only drink she'd ever tried she'd actually liked, and she hoped it was difficult enough to screw up that she'd enjoy it. Mel was next and got vermouth; not exactly sure of it but figuring it couldn't be that bad.

Obi-wan spoke for both him and Skywalker, asking for a tray of shots. This explained the silent exchange, as they were probably used to the whole deal by now.

The drinks came in due time, causing a bit of confusion. The glasses of alcohol were the average size, but the tray held at least fifteen shots, a number that would mean both drinking the other under the table. Catching a puzzled glance from his padawan, Obi-wan condescended to explain. "It's a Force thing. You may have noticed that it speeds up your metabolism, as the energy to influence matter has to come from somewhere. It also helps burn off alcohol faster, meaning you can drink more before becoming drunk. It's a useful talent." He tossed back the first one with an almost professional air.

This was followed by a completely unrecognizable first course. Apparently some sort of salad, it consisted of white curly strands, thick grey tubers and a leafy dark blue _something_, topped with a dusting of a crumbled seafoam green lichen.

"Its that **moss**?" Katie whispered, as there was little conversation to mask her ignorance.

Her companion merely chucked unhelpfully at her. Looking up, she was surprised to see him smiling, and was instantly struck by how very attractive he was. He looked evil, to say the least, but somehow she didn't mind. An aura of power enhanced the feeling, and she couldn't help thinking that he must be very, _very_ good at seduction.

The next course was slightly more palatable, being a clear soup sprinkled with more green flakes. Though the taste was indescribably alien, it at least looked like it could pass for earthly. Katie and Mel both ordered new drinks, surprised at how much better tasting the otherworldly cocktails were. Neither of them had been very found of their homeland's.

Obi-wan seemed to be determined to match his drinking companion's consumption, so as to keep things fair and to make sure he got his own share's worth. This made it altogether more surprising that he didn't notice when Mel sneaked one. She'd always wanted to try whiskey, or whatever sort of strong amber fluid that it was. The drink burned pleasantly on the way down, though she almost choked. She did have to admit that Obi-wan was right about the delayed effect, given that she was underage and inexperienced she expected some sort of effect right away. Instead of the one or one and a half, it ended up taking up to her third glass of wine before she started getting tipsy.

Not that anyone noticed. The food just kept coming, and the drinks were flowing even freer. Even the more reserved and careful 'nobles' looked red in the face, including the hosts. Cynric looked like he was actually talking and half enjoying himself, while Ianthe grew more reserved and hiccuped a few times. He was engaged in a lively conversation with a feline woman to his right, while his consort gazed about the room. Mel noticed her eyes keep coming to rest on their party, though exactly which of the four was so interesting she wasn't sure of.

Katie would later confess that she barely remembered the rest of the food served that night, only that it was hot and she'd kept drinking to quench the fire in her mouth. Even when the dancing had started she'd kept to the sidelines, despite the offers to the contrary. Not that there were many. She got plenty of looks from afar, but few actually ventured to where she was standing. Leaning on the wall more than actually supporting herself, but it was vertical at least.

Mel did not remember much of the food either but she suspected that was because she didn't eat any, not liking the style. She did, however, vividly recall spinning round and round the floor with some husky aristocrat in grey who kept trying to press more drinks on her.

Obi-wan did not look drunk, nor would he admit that he was or had ever been. He simply drew back into an alcove, watching morosely. Of course he hadn't lost control of said drinking, it was just that he'd gotten tolerant of it. And so could drink more than anyone else, and keep his senses. Or so he thought. Whether or not this was just wishful thinking aside, he did not do anything noteworthy for the rest of the evening.

Neither did Skywalker. He did not seem to be intoxicated either, though anyone who had cared had stopped doing so. He apparently did not wish to dance either, seemingly content to stand about with his quasi-wasted apprentice. Perhaps he felt obliged to defend her honor by giving rather nasty glares to young men attempting to ask her, or perhaps he found the company of plowed people amusing. His motives aside, it was he who escorted her off to bed once things began winding down.

Beyond the normal capabilities of intelligent speech (some would claim this a normal occurrence), she simply smiled before closing the door. Without the presence of mind to actually get undressed, she just kicked off her boots before basically passing out on her bed fully clothed…

Only to awake some three hours later, feeling insanely thirsty. Sitting up groggily, she noted that Mel was semi-conscious as well. "Want a glass of water?" Katie croaked, shakily standing. "I'm getting one for myself…"

Mel just nodded, before closing her eyes as if trying to ward off nausea. She'd had more to drink, and was clearly regretting it.

Stuffing her feet back into the boots, she wrapped a cloak around her bare shoulders. Wondering why this had ever seemed like a good idea ten seconds ago, she made her way unsteadily down the hall.

Unfortunately the kitchens were somewhere down the stairs past the doors to Vader's room, which meant being especially careful not to wake anyone up.


	12. Chapter 12: Free Falling

Not that it mattered. He was already alert as it was, looking vaguely like a mutant bat as he lounged in the dark room. Sprawled across one of the nice cushy couches, he'd been contemplating the meaning of life when he'd heard the footsteps from above. The pattern was obviously that of his student's, though she seemed to be walking slower than normal. Even for him it wasn't hard to feel bad for the girl; she'd have one hell of a hangover if she went back to sleep.

Sighing to himself he stood, running a hand absent-mindedly through his curls. It was rather ironic, wasn't it, how some people always seemed to show up when you were thinking about them?

- - -

The kitchen was much to white for her eyes, as she leaned against the blue-tinted water cooler. So far she'd managed to fight off the headache that was brewing, but she'd lose sooner or later. Deciding not to chance carrying two full glasses back when she was lucky to have made it thus far, Katie simply filled one three times draining it the first two. Feeling much better (relatively speaking) now that she was awake, she'd barely made it halfway down the hall before nearly walking into someone.

He grabbed her by the arm and turned her to face him, keeping the hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

It was, to be expected, Vader. "Um. I'm fine… feeling better." She felt stupid as a blush rose on her cheeks. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, not at all. I didn't bother going to sleep." He didn't say that it was because he'd been thinking things over… important things. It was hard to think of the right things to say what with her looking up at him so trustingly.

She just nodded idiotically up at him, trying to think of something to say. It was funny how tongue-tied she was now, compared to the babble of earlier, despite the eventful day with the dinner and the excursion. Opening her mouth slightly to say something, she found she didn't know how to phrase it.

He decided to end her worries, very carefully leaning in to press his mouth on to hers. It was on impulse, though he'd been thinking about doing it all day. She tasted like dry champagne and uncertainty, as he'd caught her off guard with his forwardness. Surely she'd felt it too, earlier on the ridge? It was insane, what he was doing, but sometimes insane was right. Once he was sure she wasn't going to pull away his hand went to the back of her neck, twining his fingers into her hair.

Surprised, she stiffened slightly before just letting it happen. It was like an electric shock had traveled through her body, sticking her feet to the floor and exploding fireworks behind her eyes. He tasted of whiskey and power, a heady and tempting mix. Relaxing into his hold she couldn't help hoping the moment would last, as it said everything she'd ever wanted to say.

Reluctantly he pulled back. "This isn't right." He commented, voice husky with emotion.

"No. It isn't." She replied. Placing the glass on the floor where it was out of her way she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Now it is."

He chuckled, kissing her again before regaining his seriousness. "But that's not what I meant." He was thinking of what anyone else would think, especially Obi-wan. The Jedi would definitely _not _approve, and would try to do something about it. Besides, he was older than she was. He ought to know better than to do something like this, bringing personal feelings into everything. Attachments were dangerous, as he'd learned the hard way. It was a violent world; full of lives ended much to short. Anyone close to him was a potential target for a Resistance that was often as harsh as the Empire itself. Even the Emperor would see this, and separate them if he know. And how could he ever be sure if she actually loved him back? He could always just _order_ her affections, or bewitch them.

She understood some of what he was thinking of, mainly that concerning the opinions of Obi-wan (and for her, Melissa). "We just won't tell them. It should be easy enough."

He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers, wanting to exclaim that he was tired of secret romances. But he did not. She was right, and it was the best plan they had. "I love you." It was early, so very early to put such strong sentiment into words. But it was true, and he'd had plenty of time to watch her and think about it first.

"I love you." She replied, less sure but willing to take a plunge. There was no need for caution, really. She could take care of herself, and it was time to live a little beyond her little safe bubble. There was a comfortable silence laced with those damning words, before she broke it again. "What's your name? **Really**?"

"Anakin." He replied. So long ago that name would have seemed formal, unbearably so, but it had been years since someone had honestly called him by it. Now it had a gesture of intimacy he never would have imagined.

"I love you Anakin."

- - -

Katie walked into her room much steadier than she'd left it, placing the still-full glass of water next to her friend's head. Mel was looking better as well, though still nauseous.

"Anything interesting happen? You were gone a long time." It was in her nature to still be watching out for others even as she was the one who needed help.

Katie smiled, though her friend couldn't see it very well. "Not at all."


	13. Chapter 13: Nothing Comes Close

Mel awoke before her friend, feeling a massive and highly unwelcome headache pound behind her eyes. Groaning, she sat up. Thankfully no one had turned the lights on, which would only have made things worse.

Dressing shakily, she wandered out of the room into the hallway. Of course, she didn't see the person standing there until some time later, blinded by the violently white light. This sent a jolt of pain lacing through her head, causing her to gasp and flinch. When her eyes finally cleared, she turned back around to face an amused looking Obi-wan.

"Took you long enough." He commented, tossing her an apple. Its not that he was particularly concerned about her eating, he just didn't want to be interrupted by her needing food eventually.

"I was sleeping." She replied, stating the obvious. Squinting at him, she wondered why he didn't look the least hungover at all.

He grinned. She wasn't looking very good at all, which would make this an unusually amusing morning. "What, did we have too much to drink, my young padawan?"

She scowled.

- - -

Mel discovered a grand new truth that morning. First of all, that hangovers or anything close really sucked. Second, that Obi-wan was unbearably cheerful, and viciously non-sympathetic. Thirdly, that it was possible to admire someone and want them dead at the same time.

"I said, jump _higher_." His face and voice were as impassive as ever, but Mel could have sworn he was enjoying himself.

Swearing mentally, she launched herself up in the air again, flipping over to land on her feet. "There."

"Not there. Again. You're still not jumping high enough." She was sweating now, and still obviously hurting from the night before. She also looked like she might have liked to be killing him right about then. Which wasn't new, he generally had that effect on people.

She did it again, and again, and again… After some sixteen times she simply glared at him, trying to be respectfully defiant. Which didn't work very well as he simply knocked the feet out from under her.

Looking up at him as she lay on the floor, Mel grimaced. Dropping her head back down, she muttered 'you suck' under her breath.

His grinned, as he tossed her a lightsaber. "Let's see how much you've forgotten." He commented, evenly.

She glared at him, powering hers up as he did his. "So now what? Drills?" She asked, desperately hoping for a no.

His grin widened. "No. I wanted to spar." Careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

The rest of the activity went very badly. Mel was mad, and so was messing up more than usual. The pounding in her head had gotten even worse, ruining her judgment even more.

Obi-wan just grinned more the first time he disarmed her easily, but the third time he'd started taunting. "See, this is why you need to keep your emotions in check," He commented as it went flying. "Besides using the Dark Side, it makes you a horrible fighter."

She just growled, running off to fetch it. Normally she was all right compared to him, obviously not as good but not a pushover. But today things just weren't going her way, and he was winning effortlessly.

After the eighth time he decided to be nice and let his go flying out of his own hand intentionally. Grinning condescendingly at her, he nonchalantly went to fetch it. Mel saw an opening, and attempted to slash at his unprotected back.

But before she could make contact he had whirled around and knocked her flat on her back, on the floor. "That wasn't nice." He commented, unfazed by how close she'd gotten. Apparently once you got to be a Master Jedi simple things like watching your back didn't matter anymore.

She just muttered something obscene under her breath, insanely pissed off to the point where she didn't care anymore.

Grinning, he took his foot off of her chest where he'd been pinning her down. "Watch your emotions, _padawan_. **Then** you might beat me." _Oh, it's great to be in charge!_ He thought as he waltzed out of the room, leaving one angry padawan.

- - -

Katie dug through the bowl of fruit; things she knew interspersed with plenty she didn't. Finally she found what she was looking for, a vaguely oval blue thing about the size of an orange. The inside was lime green, and despite its mad color scheme it tasted very good. It was also very runny, and took a long time to eat.

Which was what she was looking for. No one else was in the dining hall, and that gave her time to think over the events of last night. It seemed so very unreal, and had she not seen the empty glass sitting by Mel's bed, she would have written it off to an alcohol-induced hallucination. But, the thing was, she _wanted_ it to have been real.

Nibbling at her fruit and gazing off into space, she hardly noticed when he entered the room until he waved a hand in front of her face.

"Oh. Hello." She said, feeling her cheeks warm with a slight blush. He was the last person she expected to see in the morning, as he usually got up really early, or really late, depending. Looking up, she noticed that he looked a bit tired. "You sleep at all?"

"No. I had something to do this morning, so it was rather pointless." One got used to lack of sleep when they were nearly running the galaxy. Reaching out, he very gently brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. He would have liked to do more, but the risk was much too great that someone would wander in looking for a spot of early lunch. And that would have been rather difficult to explain.

As it was, he had to drop his hand to her shoulder and act like he was questioning and/or reprimanding her as Obi-wan sauntered in, looking infuriatingly bouncy.

Katie tried to hide her face; certain that some sort of emotion would leak out and be obvious. She'd never been very good at lying.

"That's harsh. Yelling at her before she's finished her breakfast." Obi-wan commented, snagging a snack from the bowl.

"I'm not making anyone jump through hoops when they have a hangover," Anakin countered, letting go of his padawan reluctantly.

"There was no hoop involved." Obi-wan declared, managing to look down his nose at his taller companion. "Besides, she shouldn't have drank so much." This was one of those 'pot calling the kettle black' situations, but no one felt like pointing that out. Obi-wan would just manage to get back at them later, and it wouldn't be fun. Deciding to quit while he was ahead, the Jedi sauntered off.

Once Obi-wan had left the room, Anakin pulled Katie from her seat into a standing position. She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, and he answered by closing it for her.


	14. Chapter 14: After The Fall

Nothing of much note occurred over the next three or four days. Mel finally got over being mad at Obi-wan, once she'd realized that it never went anywhere. Katie had perfected the art of slipping out of the room at night to meet with Anakin, and as far as she knew no one suspected a thing. It was exhilarating; she had to admit, having a secret. Though she desperately longed to tell her friend, she resisted, knowing that Mel would never, ever approve. It made her feel a bit guilty, when she thought about it, so she tried not to. There was nothing to gain from empty wishes.

It was late afternoon, and Katie had finally gotten away from the insufferable saber lessons. Obi-wan had seemed to be in a permanent, manic happy mood and it was as scary as it was infuriating. She was on her way to the 'personal force lessons', which had managed to avoid becoming a massive make-out session.

So she was waiting at the door, when she realized that it was partially open. Unsure of what to do (after all, one _never_ barged into a Master's room) she wavered for a moment before peeking in. Later, she would come to regret this, but for now she was squinting through the darkness trying to make out forms.

She couldn't see Anakin's face as he seemed to have his back to the door, but he appeared to be talking to someone. This someone turned out to be the skinny, pale, owlish Mujab, who was looking nothing less than alarmed.

As she watched, Anakin extended a hand and curled it into a casual fist, as Mujab collapsed on his knees clutching at his throat. "P-P-Please-I-I… I'm sorry…" The man gasped, fighting to breathe.

"You have failed me one to many times, Mujab." The Sith's voice was cold and emotionless. "You know the rules."

Mujab tried to gasp out another plea for mercy but could not. His pasty paleness was slowly turning blue, and his eyes were beginning to pop out of his head. He suffered like this for several more long moments, before his head involuntarily wrenched halfway round, snapping his neck and killing him.

Katie could not help giving a small, cornered-animal sort of squeak. Vader whirled around at the noise, but only caught a glimpse of a cloak as she fled. Rushing out into the hall he tried to catch up with her, but she'd already gone. Cursing his bad luck he went back into his dark, glaring at the crumpled body.

Giving it a vindictive kick, he threw himself in a chair to brood. That had been exceptionally brilliant timing on her part, though regrettable. But when she said she loved him, hadn't she understood _who_ he was? Or had she simply known, but not really _known_ until she'd actually seen him kill? One did not become Darth Vader without sacrificing the lesser lives of others, something that should be obvious. He sighed bitterly. _Four days_. That had to be some sort of record for ruining a relationship.

- - -

Katie closed the door to her room behind her, panting. She'd run, not wanting to actually face him until she'd had time to think things over. Thankfully Mel wasn't there, or it would have been extremely awkward. _"So, Katie, wussup? You look paler than usual." "Nothing. Nothing at all. I just found out the man I love is a murderer." "Really? Who?" "Oh, no one. Just a Sith Lord. You know, Darth Vader?"_

- - -

Katie found it ridiculously easy to avoid him for the next few days. Except for when it was absolutely necessary, she wandered the halls instead of meeting for a lesson. He was obviously letting her do this, as it would have been all too easy to seek her out or _make_ her show up.

But she had resolved nothing, until the epiphany. It was not a bolt from the sky, so much as a realization that she was being an idiot. Nor was it caused from a falling apple, metaphorical or otherwise. Ironically, it was inspired by Obi-wan.

They were discussing a highly effective Empire take-over of a planet when she spaced out. This was not unusual, as she tended to tune out Obi-wan's voice when it wasn't directed at her. This also tended to annoy him, which was again his usual state of being.

"And who do you think ordered the planet-wide destruction? Including that of innocents?" Obi-wan snapped his fingers in front of her face, calling her to attention.

"The Emperor?" She guessed, trying to pretend that she had been paying attention.

He paused for a second, before regaining his air of school-masterly displeasure. "No. Had you been listening, you would know. The answer is our very own Darth Vader. Now, do you know why?"

She blinked at him. That was answer enough, because obviously, she didn't know.

"Was it because it was a Resistance-controlled planet? No. Was it even remotely useful to the Resistance? No. I'll quote from the official elimination papers 'for personal insult'. Nearly a billion innocent lives lost, an entire planet blown up, for personal insult." He seemed to be really getting into this, enjoying a chance to rant against his superior and pass it off as a lesson.

And, unsurprisingly, Katie had stopped listening again. But this time she was actually thinking, instead of just zoning out. The incident in question had been at least a year ago, the bits of planet no more than dust in the wind by now. _He's been killing for years now…_

How absurd was she, to flip out over something as simple as one? The man had screwed up rather badly too, and while death is extreme it was a precedent. She'd already declared love while knowing that he had caused death. So it was more than hypocritical, then, to change her mind after such a relatively small incident? The last few days had been torture, lonely torture, as she couldn't explain to anyone why she felt what she did. There was a line she'd found somewhere, as cliché as it undoubtedly was that fit her situation perfectly. _I forgave you the moment I set eyes on you_…

The rest of the hour was little more than a multi-colored blur. As soon has they were let out, she set off to find him. That shouldn't be that hard but… there was a small, nagging little voice in the back of her head. _Great job of being strong, Katie. Running right back into his arms. He kills in cold blood, and you don't care. Bit of a shock, but you were only really afraid for yourself, weren't you? But just as long as _you'll_ be safe, it's fine with you! Why don't you just stop pretending? The Dark Side's just where you belong. You never wanted a knight in shining armor, much to clean and good for you. No, you wanted a shot in the dark, someone you can fear as much as you love_… Katie quashed it, or tried to. Some of it sounded alarmingly like what she thought Mel would have to say to her about this sorry love affair, the rest like normal self-deprecating mind babble.

So what if she was being pathetic? She loved him, or thought she did. Wasn't that enough? She'd been happy. Was this why girls went back into abusive relationships? Or why serial killers had girlfriends? She didn't _want_ to care, but she did, and it was horrible. How stupid was she being, diving off the point of no return headfirst? It would be so much easier if he hadn't _let_ her have a choice, but he had. And why did it all matter anyway? Its not like she actually knew what love was.

Her musings were interrupted by none other than the devil himself ('speak of the devil…'). He looked rather surprised, as she was leaning against a wall, eyes glazed and holding her head in one hand. Looking up, her eyes met his. Feeling her heart do a flip and fly to her throat, she realized how very futile even thinking about saying no had been.

Not _quite_ throwing herself at him se flung her arms about his neck, burying her face in his chest. "I love you," She murmured, voice muffled by the cloth.

He blinked. He was not caught off guard often, but he'd expected something far more melodramatic. He'd also never imagined her forgiving him so… suddenly. Or at all, for that matter. He'd resigned himself to gradually forgetting the potential happiness, and receding back into himself. But that was all just a distant dream, as here she was… back in his arms. "I love you too."

"I've been such an idiot." More of a shock. **She** was the one apologizing, and sounded like she meant it dearly. "I… I overreacted, and… I'm sorry." It _seemed_ right to her, but deep inside the nasty little voice of doubt saw it as yet another example of her weakness. She drew apart a fraction, looking up at him questioningly.

He leaned in, giving her what she wanted. The forgiveness was unspoken but mutual, the afterglow settling into a nice warm buzz.

Anakin had to suppress a sudden feeling of triumph. It was completely out of place, and more than a little selfish. She loved him, and it was in spite of the fact that she _knew_ he was Sith, and that she'd seen him kill in cold blood. But that **other** woman… no, she'd gone as far to renounce _vows_ in light of the change. No longer need he mourn for her, however deep his remorse.

Now he had someone who actually appreciated him, who could overlook that. Besides, if she'd forgiven him so easily, it should be easy to turn her to **his** side. That would be a glorious day, and mark the final downfall of the pesky Resistance. One of the main reasons love was denied the Jedi was the creation of dynasties, or feuding families. The Force often ran in bloodlines, though there had never been children with both parents gifted. There had also never been a female Sith, as there were precious few female Jedi in the first place.

Now how would Obi-wan like **_that_**?


	15. Chapter 15: Futility

Currently, suspected clandestine love affairs were the last thing on Obi-wan's mind. More pressing was the issue of getting rid of an insistent hostess, without offending anyone. This was a unique situation, for him at least, as normally he would have just offended whoever it was wittily.

He'd been walking about the actual compound with his padawan, trying to find a deserted area to give her some real-situation practice. Unfortunately they'd run into Ianthe, who'd been (seemingly) wandering as aimlessly as they had been. Attaching herself to their party, she'd made any sort of constructive action impossible.

Not that she was a _completely_ insufferable character. She was simply unreadable. It was a given that she had some ulterior motive, or manipulative purpose in being so civil, but it was impossible to discern.

Obi-wan had always thought himself a good judge of character and rather insightful, but it was like running into a glass wall. He simply did not understand why she was being so insistent in keeping his company, or if it was the padawan she was after. Thinking it might be easier to maneuver alone he sent Mel off to clean the vents, but the woman still did not leave him alone!

He was almost to the point of throwing caution to the wind and just asking her when she let on. As soon as she did, he suddenly regretted ever wanting to know.

They were standing some distance from the bay where the ship was 'docked', in a completely empty hall. She looked about demurely, before asking lightly "Do you know how long you will be staying?"

Obi-wan shook his head, puzzled. "Not very much longer, I'm afraid. We've already been here for some time, and there are appointments to keep."

She sighed, a weird occurrence for such a polished surface. "How regretful." Her voice was an alluring contralto, the sort of 'bedroom voice' that bewitched more men than she had time to care about.

"Really? I would have thought our visit a nuisance." _You know, keeping you from your petty rebellions_.

She sighed again, eyes very oddly moist. Obi-wan hardly had a moment to wonder if she was drunk beneath the layers of coy perfume before she began dropping the bombshell.

"So is it true that Jedi are forbidden to love?" She asked, though she did not leave time for a reply. "I've always thought that so very unfair."

"But its really is for the better good-" He tried to protest, afraid of what she would say next. He'd heard of this, seen it before but it had never happened to him…

"Love is such a beautiful thing." She was definitely not feeling any pain, if that strangely wispy voice could come from such a pointy, solid woman. "It should be allowed to run free. Not… denied, or-or commanded because of some misguided attempt at peace." It was obvious as to whose love had been commanded. State marriages were arraigned very, very early here, sometimes even before the child was born. Sometimes they worked out for the better, more often for the worse. Infidelity was the norm, sessions of court notorious for the amount of bed hopping present. "Do you not agree? Shouldn't love be able to run its own course and be decided by those who are in love?" The hidden question was almost obvious, a desperate, sad plea from a sad, desperate woman.

Obi-wan did not hesitate, though there could have been massive repercussions from either avenue available to him. "Sometimes love is no more than a inconvenience. It is a powerful force, but should not be allowed to dictate the actions of those who have lives at stake. Jedi do not love because to love is to hate. One cannot deny hate if one does not deny love, as one cannot hate without loving. Love also leads to jealousy, which is but a shade of greed. These things lead to the Dark Side, which must be avoided at all costs."

She opened her mouth to protest, eyes borderline full, but he stopped her. "I have seen the consequences of love. They are impossible to avoid, no matter how pure the love may be. No woman or man is worth the fall of a Jedi, or even the death of one. It is a heavy price to pay, but one that the entire order must undertake." Pausing, he swallowed. Had he done right, to lecture so? She was not a student, in fact she was something of ten years older than he was, and far more experienced in the art of love. "I am not the one to pin your hopes on. I am not who you want, and I cannot be your escape."

She nodded once, before regaining a smidgen of her once-regal bearing. "You will promise never to speak of this again?" It was a thinly disguised order, and he nodded. She gave a slight bow, and left him standing alone.

Feeling suddenly weak from such an emotionally charged and thin line he had had to walk, Obi-wan leaned against the wall. It was difficult to know exactly what he thought, or truly felt at that moment. He knew _nothing_ of love himself, and did not want to know. He'd seen the horror of too much love, of a forbidden union bringing down an entire galaxy around his ears. He'd also seen too many women like Ianthe, strong in public but dying inside. This total absence of love, with only a physical connection, had ruined just as many lives. Sex was no replacement for love, though so many tried to make it so. Such a double-edged sword should hardly be allowed, or even had been invented in the first place. Whoever had been the first to think of such a thing should have been killed, burned, and blasted into oblivion before his dangerous ideas had had time to spread.

Or was it a purely natural reaction? Was he betraying his primal self, by denying even the idea of love? It was difficult to tell, and pointless to mull over. Shaking his head, he trudged off toward the ship. For once, he was hoping that Vader would be free. It had been ages since he'd actually had a saber opponent who was a challenge, and it was exactly the sort of thing to keep his mind off the futility of love and its various trappings.


	16. Chapter 16: Don't Ask Me Why

Katie ran down the stairs, trying to hold back her skirt with one hand. THUMP - THUMP - THUMP - THUMP - Down the stairs, down the hall and out of sight. Some few minutes later she was back, still trying to keep her balance at a hectic pace. THUMP - THUMP - THUMP - THUMP - Back up the stairs, down _that_ hall… Bursting into the room, she smiled in a very out-of-breath way at a sulky Mel. "Yes. He says you **have** to go."

Mel raised her eyes without raising her eyes, glowering at her friend in the patented 'Death Glare' method. "Gah… I hate him sometimes." She kicked the wall. "Did he say whether-"

"Yes. He did. Red dress, and if you don't look presentable enough he says he'll make you live in the vents." Katie brushed off her skirt, more as an unconscious habit than anything, and started to leave.

"Where are you going?"

Katie tossed a reply of "To let you change in peace," Before closing the door in her friend's face. Its not like she could actually explain…

THUMP - THUMP - THUMP - THUMP - down the stairs yet again, though this time at a more reasonable speed. There was a curve at the bottom, and she peered around it rather anxiously.

"I was wondering if you were going to leave without stopping by," He commented nonchalantly, leaning against his door.

She blushed, feeling utterly predictable. But that wasn't a new revelation, she'd always been somewhat easy to second-guess and reliably pathetic at times. It was odd, really, the sorts of things that crossed her mind in the minutes before they were swept away by emotion and feeling. She supposed it was a subconscious heart-heart rebellion, trading off dominion of her head. Which was a rather stupid way to put it, or so she thought, but then again coherency was not her strong suit and never had been.

He reached out to play with a strand of hair that had worked itself free of the elaborate upsweep. "You look lovely." He wasn't just being 'blinded by love' (or the light). She did actually look rather nice, with her dress and the various shiny things at her ears, throat and wrists. She was dressed to impress, as the occasion Mel was rebelling against was a formal luncheon with some aristocratic young ladies.

She blushed, crinkling up her nose. Its not that she didn't like compliments; it's just that he was much too serious when he gave them. It was hard to keep eye contact as well. His gaze was simply too intense when it rested upon her, as much a tangible _heat_ across her skin than anything.

He laughed at her, at the awkwardness of the situation. "No, really. You do." His hand dropped to her chin, and he gently fingered her jawbone. "I'm afraid I'll smudge it."

She laughed a bit as well, moving in to rest her hands against his chest. "I don't care…" Looking up for once, she let their eyes meet.

He obliged. The newly bared skin at her shoulder blades felt shockingly intimate, as it was usually covered by her Jedi robes. She was shivering agreeably, as though she thought so as well. The beautiful moment had to be ruined sometime, and it rather promptly was.

THUMP - THUMP - THUMP - THUMP - Mel was thundering down the stairs, clearly pissed off. They sprang apart, Katie assuming the air of an obediently listening padawan.

"Katie! What are you doing? We'll be late!" She yelled, yanking on her friend's arm. Katie gave her Master a quick, half-apologetic bow before letting herself be dragged off.

Anakin was left standing there, leaning against his wall. He was looking unaccountably happy, as far was one could infer from his satisfied smirk. He loved her, he really did, but everything would be _so_ much simpler if her friend merely did not exist.

- - -

Mel stomped up the stairs yet again, absolutely furious. The lunch had not gone well **_at all_**, and it would have made her much happier if she'd simply been able to carve out their throats with the cocktail spoons.

It had started out civilly enough, with dainty little sandwiches, and lots of overly sweet mixed drinks. The girls had been nice enough… until they'd all been left alone. Then they'd shown their true colors, being passive-aggressively nasty and making some (rather well thought-out) but extremely vicious double entendres.

She stamped overly hard on the last step. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who's view) she caught her dress beneath her foot. So when she straightened with such violence, the hem tore with a (strangely satisfying) but very loud RIP. She stopped dead, standing stock-still, as she gazed at the foot-long gash in the lower edge of the hated dress. There was an acute silence for some moments as her mind tried to work around this sudden roadblock.

"AHHH!" She screamed suddenly, giving vent to the sudden surge of frustration. Storming into her room, she yanked off the dress savagely, and proceeded to tear the thing apart. It was a rather fortunate thing that Katie had already vacated the room, or else she would have been in danger.

Mel worked methodically, anger suddenly icy calm. Starting at the bottom she wielded the razor with calm efficiency, artfully turning the entire thing into something resembling a red paper snowflake. The whole skirt section was the easiest to destroy, as it was relatively thin. The bodice was a bit more difficult, and she had to abandon the trusty razor in favor of some sharp scissors. It was a wonder she hadn't hurt herself, hands a flesh and silver blur as she worked.

The systematic destruction was more catharsis than mindless release. It felt good to pour out all over her pent-up raging frustration into this, to tear and tear at fabric, and to feel it give beneath her hands. It would have been even better to burn the monstrosity when she was done, to see her work curl and smoke as it went up in a crackling sheet of flame.

But she collapsed backwards when she finally finished, feeling suddenly empty with her anger spent. As it fell silent she realized she'd been laughing madly, nearly screaming. Now all she could hear was her ragged breathing, and the slow hiss of the opening door-

Spinning around, she saw Obi-wan standing in her doorway. His expression looked frozen, as though he had no idea what to make of the situation. "Melissa!"

She looked up at him, guiltily, like a child caught in a wrongdoing by a parent. "Yes Master?"

For once, he was utterly without words. He'd simply never thought this was a situation that would ever occur, and so had no idea what to really do about it. Such giving in to emotions was bad, but that she'd basically rebelled against the 'establishment' (Empire) was a good thing. But such brazen disobedience should not be tolerated at all, ever, even though he felt it justified. "To be honest, I have no idea what to do with you. So if you'd spend the next hour or so in the vents, and our of sight, I might be able to decide."

Mel nodded, feeling that this might be for the better as well. She brushed past him, turning at the last moment to bow. Every little bit helped, and the happier he was with her manners the less likely he was to throw her against a wall. Not that he would. Obi-wan was a gentleman. Just a rather vindictive one.


	17. Chapter 17: Leave a Tender Moment Alone

Mel crawled along, the space not being very large. Swiping at a grill with her large, fluffy brush, she listened for strains of conversation below. Often she could, and managed to learn lots of things that she wasn't supposed too. Surely Obi-wan must have known what an excellent way to eavesdrop this was, or maybe he hadn't considered it a problem. Either way, she enjoyed being fully in on the sordid gossip. Inching along another foot, now lying entirely on top of the grate, she leaned to swipe at an opening above her. CRASH!

With a loud noise, the grate came loose and she tumbled ignobly to the floor in a great shower of dust. "Sorry, sorry," She kept on babbling, as she tried to clear her eyes. She was probably sitting in the middle of an empty room, and talking to herself.

But that was not to be. Once she got her eyes clear, she suddenly regretted it. Katie and Vader were standing there, staring at her, looking like deer-in-the-headlights. But that wasn't the worst, by far. They were embracing, twined rather _too_ closely together, and she'd obviously caught them in the middle of making out (if Katie's rather swollen-looking lips were anything to go by).

Mel's mind went blank, and her mouth dropped open. It was like running into a glass wall, repeatedly. There was simply no way to get around it, pretend it wasn't there, or understand it at all. Why? Why? Why? Kept swirling around in her head, demanding to be answered. She simply could not understand why her friend was doing this at all, much less with _him!_ But could she **do** about it?

She was not in limbo for long. Before she could think of yet another unanswerable question, she was already out of the door. Half lying, half-standing, she looked up into the face of a very angry looking Vader.

He'd been having a perfectly wonderful meeting with his clandestine love, when the one of the last people who should ever find out came plummeting from the ceiling. Of course, in shock he'd only held Katie closer, instead of acting rationally and springing apart. But what was rational about a perfectly sound vent randomly giving way, and during the five minutes he was doing what he couldn't be caught at? It made one question the reality of fate and bad luck, as far as timing was concerned. The average man caught in his situation would either have to kill the other girl or buy her off, but thankfully he was not average. Waving a hand in front of her face he concentrated, intoning "You will not remember," rather gravely.

Mel blinked up at him, mind suddenly woozy and uncertain. She frowned, trying to make sense of this random development. Suddenly, it hit her. "You're using mind tricks!" She yelled, breaking from his hold and stumbling down the hall.

He let her go, sighing in irritation. She was not weak-minded, and it had not worked completely. But she would be much more confused, and it would give him time to clear up the evidence. Without any clear proof, who would take her word over _his?_

- - -

Mel skidded to a stop in front of the door she knew lead into her master's quarters. She'd never been inside before, and knew of its location only from a passing comment. It was odd, though. He did not have a lock on his door, merely a 'knock' (green) and open/close (yellow and red, respectively) buttons on the keypad. _That's odd…_ she thought, for a moment. But it made things easier. Its not like she would have known his code, or anything.

Instead, she did something utterly against the master-padawan rules. She barged into a Master's room, without bothering to knock or announce her presence.

Obi-wan spun around, in a brief panic. There were papers spread all over his desk, which would have been harmless in itself, but they were **all** paperwork from the Resistance. Hastily shoving them into a pile, the least incriminating on top, he was ready for someone to start yelling at him (which was the only reason anyone seemed to visit him) when he realized it was only his padawan.

A breach of etiquette, but she obvious had something very important to say. Unfortunately, he couldn't understand a word of it. She was talking a mile a minute, looking rather confused and very distressed. He would have been content to just nod and smile and pretend he understood until he caught the phrase 'Katie and Vader'. Anything that he could hold over his superior was a good thing. He held up a hand, silencing her. "Slow down. Take a breath. I can't understand a word you're babbling. Let's take this one step at a time. Who?"

Mel complied, calming down. "Katie and Vader."

"I got that much. What were they doing that was so alarming?"

"Making out."

This nearly shattered Obi-wan's deliberate cool. It was a disturbing development, if his padawan was correct. "How do you know this?" It was also entirely possible that she was mistaken.

"I fell through the vents." She gestured to the thick layer of dust coating her entire person. Again, completely against form, she reached out and attempted to drag him with her. "C'mon!"

He let her drag him, though in the back of his mind he was simmering in indignation. One did _not_ drag one's master anywhere, nor did you enter their rooms without direct permission. Obviously, he'd encouraged her too much. "Are you completely sure of this?" He asked, stopping halfway down the hall.

"Yes… no…. I **was**!" She protested. "But then, he-he yelled at me… and said something… and now I'm all confused."

Obi-wan nodded, letting her continue dragging him on. This sounded exactly like something that Vader would do, and it was adding a particularly disturbing element of truth. He didn't want to insinuate that his padawan was lying, but he hardly expected her claim to be validated.

Besides, her complete disregard for the proper way of thins was really starting to irritate him. Normally he thought of himself as rather easygoing about such things, but she was really going too far. Whether this turned out to be a figment of her imagination or not, he'd have to talk to her.

Once she'd reached the room she'd been trying to find, Mel did not knock yet again, barging in. Obi-wan sighed a bit, poking his head inside the room in his student's wake.

She'd stopped dead in the doorway, looking at the complete absence of dust, stricken.

True enough, Vader was there, though he was looking rather justifiably annoyed. He'd obviously been meditating, which is something that it is _extremely_ rude to interrupt without _very_ good reason. "What is the meaning of this?" He asked, looking for a good answer.

Mel did not give him one. She was still staring aghast at the grate nicely back into its spot, with not a speck of dust to be seen. "But-but…" She seemed to be without words, which was understandable given her situation. "Where's…?"

"I would advise you to remove your incoherent padawan, and lecture her on her own absence of manners." Vader commented, giving Obi-wan an _obviously-you-aren't-a-very-good-master_ look. The entire effect was infuriatingly superior. But he was entitled.

Obi-wan complied, dragging her out by the ear. It rankled him to be found wanting in his skills as a master, but the situation had been rather out of his hands. Glaring at his padawan, he didn't fling her against the wall but did _hold_ her there rather forcefully.

Mel was surprised. He'd never used The Force against her before, and now she was glad that he didn't. Without seeming to be expending any effort at all he was keeping her from moving a muscle away from the position he wanted. It also kept her from merely tuning out his tirade.

Obi-wan, later, would be rather proud of this tirade. He managed to reduce her to shameful quivering (the only motion he was allowing, anyway) within a matter of minutes. Of course, to someone as witty as himself, this had been entirely spur of the moment. "And as punishment…" He trailed off for a few seconds.

Mel took this tiny break to look around. Her eyes were drawn to movement at the end of the hall. Katie was standing there, looking utterly confused. Mel could not gasp, which she wanted to do, as the confusion melted away (for a split second) into something much too much like _relief _before she slunk away.

"You hereby have no free time, until I allow you to, and during that time you will be practicing the manners you sorely lack. And writing me a three page discourse on why these are vital to the maintaining of the power structure." He finished, with a flourish.

Mel drooped, as he let her go. First of all, she'd almost found out something huge and horrible. Second, she wasn't so sure anymore, and was wondering if she really did just hit her head falling like he hypothesized. Third, now she had to re-learn things she'd never liked in the first place.

This really sucked.


	18. Chapter 18: So Much For Good Intentions

Katie plopped onto her bed, letting out a sigh of relief. That had been amazingly close, and for a second there she'd really thought that this was game over. The look on Mel's face would haunt her for quite some time; the disbelief mixed with horror and some pronounced disgust. Which meant that the cover-up had been worth it. She did wish they (he, really, she didn't do much except run off) had been able to do it without having to use mind tricks.

Which lead to an interesting question. How far was she willing to go to keep this under wraps? Or, more importantly, how far was _he_ ready to go? Katie was capable of being a realist, and she knew that widespread knowledge would be a virtual death sentence. She would become a liability, a target for the Resistance or anyone else wishing to bargain with the Empire. But would she kill to keep the secret? She didn't think so, at least not Mel. But what if they were surprised by someone less important? A simple tech or guard? Would she be willing to kill another to save herself? It was a scary thing to contemplate. No, she did not like the idea of valuing her life so high above another's. But if she were **in** such a situation… what thought would take over? Primal fight response verse ethics? Instinct or learned behavior?

The saddest part was that this was all purely academic. He would be willing to kill for her, and there was nothing she could do about it. It was an interesting thing to think of, how very dangerous he could be if brushed the wrong way. A bit like sleeping with a tiger, though she was not intending to do any sleeping with anybody.

Putting her head in her hand, she sighed. These were lovely, thorny moral issues she would have loved to discuss with her friend… but she could not. In fact, she was a bit afraid of what Mel would think of her if she knew.

Mel was rather… prickly when it came to love. Its not that she was against it. It's just that she did not want to seem weak. She knew she could live without a man, and was staunchly for doing so… but she wanted to know what love was. It was a difficult balance, the woman-on-her-own and the curious, and it usually meant sacrificing what she _really_ wanted. Not so much for her image, exactly, but to be strong. Mel was the leader of her groups, always had been and probably always would be. It was half her own personality, and half the blessing/curse of charisma. However she felt on the inside, she was strong outside.

Katie knew of 'inside Mel', but it was difficult not to envy the exterior. She'd always thought herself weak, and was just realizing how very true this had been. Was she jealous? Yes, very, though she would never be able to explain exactly why. Part of it was simply envy of how very simple Mel's waking hours were. Mel did not worry about being found out and having a virtual price on her head, about finding time for her misguided love, or for wondering what she would have to do in impossible situations.

Or was it even love? She was all of fourteen, nearly fifteen. She knew nothing of love, or if what she felt was anything like it. Would she ever know? If not, then it did not matter… as did most of what she thought over. Whether she condoned to killing of another for herself did not matter, as she would do what she did when the time came, and what Mel would think did not matter until the other girl found out (if she ever did).

Katie shivered. Why did things have to be so complicated? She'd always wanted some sort of adventure, always wanted to be dangerous. Now she had what she'd wished for… and it scared her.

- - -

"What was going on this morning?" Mel inquired of Obi-wan, looking slightly puzzled. There had been something rather important going on during breakfast, with lots of armed people bustling about in different directions, looking impressive.

"They managed to capture a pair of Rebels in charge of an assassination plot." He answered impartially, though he was rather annoyed at those particular members of the resistance for being stupid enough to be caught.

"Really? Where are they now?" Katie asked, curious. If at all possible, she wanted to talk to one of them. Not that he (or she) would be willing to say much to an 'Imperial'.

"He. There's only one now, and I believe they have him in the Interrogation Rooms." This would be nothing to them, as they probably didn't realize that there were interrogation rooms. That was, of course, the point. He had to protect the interests of the padawans, as well as that of his fellow Resistance members. For once this was a relatively easy balance, but it was bound to get more difficult.

"What happened to the other one?" Katie wished that she had let Mel ask this one. She was afraid she knew the answer.

"Committed suicide right after being taken." Obi-wan replied gravely, face registering no change. He could not express his own heartfelt sympathy without painting a sign on his head screaming 'TREASON', and expressing any sort of satisfaction would violate his own principles.

Katie felt a tad relieved, though felt worse for feeling so. She preferred that the blood be on the hands of others, but a suicide was no laughing matter. "He was devoted to his cause."

Mel nodded, though she was reserving judgment. "That takes a lot, to kill yourself instead of betraying another."

"Does it?" He considered making them think (whether by playing devil's advocate or by whacking them over the head) as part of his duty. "Is it really brave to end your own life?"

"If it is for the better good, I suppose." Mel commented. "But there's always the prospect of rescue… isn't it stupid, if he deprives his own side of someone they need?"

"It depends on the circumstance, I think. If it was a position in which he could not go on, then I suppose it's justifiable. If it is for a better good, than its noble. But if it is just to escape…"

"What if it was to escape the pain? Was that what you were about to say? What if the pain was from a best friend's death. Is that a good reason? Or what if it is to escape physical pain? To escape torture? Its is really fair to burden others with grief at your absence, or to doom a cause so that you can be spared pain?" He paused for a second, half talking to himself. "You say that self-sacrifice is noble. What if you only place burden on those who are saved? If someone died to save your own life, you would feel pressured to make something of it. You also bring up the idea of a waste of a life. If a good citizen dies to save a drug addict, was the first person's life wasted? Or is the simple act enough to redeem them?"

There was a short silence, in which he could nearly hear the cogs of their minds turning. But such a beautifully quiet moment could never last long, and he decided he was bored with it. "Enough moralizing. I want to see how you are doing with your much-abused sabers."

Katie groaned. "Why can't we moralize pointlessly for the rest of the time?"

He flicked her in the head. "Because I said so." He regretted it saying that. It was the sort of thing his old masters used to tell him all the time, and it had always ticked him off more. So he had vowed never to use it against his own padawan… Ah well, so much for good intentions.


	19. Chapter 19: Parallels

Vader sifted through the pile of papers and discs littering his desk. There were plenty of things he didn't want others to go pawing through, which was probably simple paranoia. But he had his reasons, and so cleaned his own desk himself. Stacking the last handful of reports, he found an unmarked silver disc. He frowned thoughtfully at it. _What the hell is that?_ Rather trustingly, he placed the disc inside the projector and waited for whatever it was to appear. _Probably just static…_

But he was not nearly that lucky. Instead, the hologram of a lovely woman in her mid-twenties appeared. She was going on about some political nonsense and giving him regards to send to others, including Obi-wan. At the very end of the recording she leaned in close to the screen, hair falling forward into her open, expressive face. "I love you Ani," She whispered, eyes full of feeling…

He reached over and yanked out the disc as though it was red-hot, looking stricken. Now, much too late, he remembered what (more who) the disc was about. He'd never had the willpower to destroy it, but neither could he stand to watch it through. She'd betrayed him in the worst way, breaking her vows and destroying the ultimate sacrifice he'd made for her…

Turning away, he leaned his head against the cool wall. There was the tiniest splash, and he knew he was crying. That was why he had locked his door. Who knew what he'd dig up, and showing any sign of weakness was political suicide.

_Oh god..._ He thought to himself. He tried to think of what she'd done, that ultimate refusal, to help blunt the pain. But his mind shied away, much like a wary horse that knows it would go up in his face like a landmine. _I loved you, I loved you, I loved you, I love you, I love you, I love you, IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou_…

- - -

Obi-wan strode purposefully down the hall, cloak billowing about him theatrically. He was a man on a mission, and there was a very real possibility of getting caught. But he could not afford to be, with his life as the debt to pay. The Interrogation Rooms were in the lower bowls of the ship, far from the public eye. Despite the many technological advances since the invention of faster-than-light travel, torture was still a medieval. Plenty of perfectly barbaric methods were popular, precisely because they were still effective.

The Rebel was being held in the farthest cell, though there were no guards posted at that particular moment. He'd made sure of _that_. The room was smallish, and rather dim. Of course, Obi-wan could see as well as he needed too, but the detainee could barely make out the Jedi's basic form. "Are you waiting for dawn?" He inquired gravely.

"It will chase away the darkness." The man answered. He was not much older than Obi-wan himself, and obviously scared out of his mind.

"Then we shall have light." Obi-wan finished. He'd invoked the standard Resistance code for a greeting, a more subtle way of declaring himself a friend.

"Are they coming?" The man pleaded, tugging pitifully at the ties holding him to the table. "Are they coming for me?"

"What's your name?" If he was to give bad news, it needed to be personal.

"D'Arvae Impalar." The prisoner replied, breathing ragged.

"D'Arvae, I have to give you the truth. They aren't coming for you and you are going to die here. I can't release you, and I can't stop the pain. But I can give you an escape, if you are willing."

D'Arvae swallowed, nodding his thin wan face. "Please! They're going to break me, I know it. I can't let them know what I do!"

Obi-wan nodded, feeling a bit of a lump in his throat. He'd done this before, and counseled himself that the ends justify the means, but the guilt was hard to shake off. "I can make you go insane. They'll think they broke you too hard, and let you die easy." From an inner pocket he drew a gel pill the size and color of a small blue-green marble. "Bite it once they start again and you'll lose yourself. But not a moment too soon, or they'll know." Obi-wan reached out and gently clasped the other's hand and turned to leave.

But there was a someone standing in the doorway. Terryal was he, green skin eerily luminescent in the dimness. "I knew you'd be here." Was all he said, cryptically.

"You can't tell him this. I know you have too, but you can't." Obi-wan was much too dignified to plead, but there was a hint of desperation in his voice.

"I owe him my life and those of my family." Terryal replied stonily, face impassive and blank.

"But it is thanks to me you are not dead!"

They commenced a staring contest of sorts, Jedi verse the aquatic thing. Terryal looked away first, head drooping a tad as he moved away from the door. "I will say nothing."

"Good man." Obi-wan clapped him on the shoulder, before disappearing into the shadow. Terryal was left standing there, looking vaguely radioactive in his glowing. Sending the prisoner a quick look of disdain, he flitted off to nowhere.


	20. Chapter 20: We Didn't Start The Fire

Mel thumped rather tiredly down the stairs. It wasn't very late, though she would have preferred to be in bed. But Katie was off as well, and would only wake Mel up when she returned (whenever that might be). Making quiet small talk with a random kitchen maid, she got a glass of water. Oddly enough, she would later remember exactly the pattern of raised blue glass that was imprinted upon its side. This detail would never matter, but it was an odd contrast to the blur of the rest of the night.

Just as cautious as before, Mel crept from the room and closed the door softly. Turning to leave down the hall, she froze. BANG! She felt the unique sensation of her mind repeatedly running into a glass wall, coupled with the most massive sense of déjà vu. What the… FUCK!

Partially hidden beneath the overhang of the stairs were Katie and Vader. Mel felt a sudden wave of disgust overtake her disbelief. They weren't just making out… this was blatant, shameless face sucking. _Yech… how can she_** _do_ **_that_?

Slipping back inside the kitchen, Mel began talking loudly to herself. She was hoping that if she gave the overly amorous pair enough warning, they would run off before she scarred her mind any more. Peaking outside, she found with relief that her brilliant scheme had worked. They were nowhere to be seen, though she really didn't want to know where they'd run off too.

Hurrying up the stairs, Mel ran down the hall to Obi-wan's room. About to barge inside, she caught herself. She wanted him to believe her, not lecture her. She 'knocked' politely instead.

"Come." He called, sounding unsure as to the caller's identity. He looked a tad surprised to see her so late, looking so worried. "Is there something… amiss?"

She nodded. "I WAS RIGHT!"

He blinked, waiting for more. "About what?"

"Katie! And Vader!" She made a face. "_Sucking face!_ Beneath the stairs… if you're really quiet you can catch them yourself!"

- - -

Obi-wan waltzed down the hallway, unconcerned. This was because he was floating a level six inches off of the floor, and so made absolutely no sound. The stairs were a little disorientating, but he'd gotten used to it. It was surprising the amount of sneaking around he did in the average day, and he'd become rather good at it.

Reaching the very bottom with its slight curve he paused, taking a deep breath. He thought he could hear faint rustling noises, but they could easily be his imagination. He half-hoped, half-dreaded them to be real, weighing his suspense against what that would mean for him… and fate in general.

Whirling around the corner, he dropped to ground level. There was a sharp pain as his retinas began burning, but he ignored it. This had gone much too far…

Katie heard, distantly, a tapping sound. She would have ignored it if Anakin hadn't suddenly stiffened and drawn away, protectively. Looking up she met Obi-wan's eyes, watching flashes of disgust and pity running through the glacier of blue. **_Shit_**… Odd enough, it was. Here she was, having the worst fear realized and all she felt was cold. It wasn't even a deep cool, just a sort of freezing of her mind and numbing of her senses. It had been bound to happen anyway… she just wished she had been able to come off a little more dignified. She let go, trying to back behind him while still looking partially like she knew what as going on.

Anakin caught her, and pulled her in to murmur in her ear. It looked tender, but felt far more possessive to her. His mouth was at the hollow beneath her ear, hot breath across her sensitive neck. "Go home." Was the entire message, and it was more of an Imperial order than a well-meaning suggestion. She obeyed, looking softly confused. He watched her go. He would have preferred to have her with him, but he did not want her to her what he was going to say.

There was a silence as both Jedi and Sith waited for the sound of her footsteps to recede beyond earshot.

"So." Anakin leaned against the wall, slightly raising one eyebrow. "Are you going to let me have it? I know you. And I know that you're waiting to yell at me. But I also know that you know me. And you know it won't make any difference." He wasn't smiling, though the corner of his mouth was twitching.

Obi-wan glowered a bit, trying to sort through the conflicted feelings. "How can you be so cold? So heartless, to lead someone on like that… drag her down with you?"

"Heartless?" He sounded slightly taken aback. "I love her!"

"Love? What do _you_ know of love?" Obi-wan spat back, hotly. He did not understand, probably never would understand how anyone could love such a _thing_.

"I could ask you the same. Now, what is it that you are trying to accomplish here?" He looked impassive, cold, as though the issue they were discussing were no more than passing matters.

"To get you to leave her alone! She can't understand who you are, or she wouldn't pretend so!"

"Pretend? Are you insinuating that she cannot love me, and is only going along because she's afraid? Because I ordered her too?" Now Vader was starting to sound pissed, feeling a bit of a protective surge.

"Yes! Yes, I am." Obi-wan wished that he wasn't so very alone. He, and only he, had to be the voice of reason in this madness. "She's not strong enough to resist you! But that's why you picked her, isn't it? She was pretty enough, and she'd do whatever you wanted her to do?"

"Are you saying I only want her for sex?" This was infuriating, though he'd seen it coming. He just wished he could think of a good counter to it.

"Yes!" Obi-wan didn't want to contemplate whether or not that had already happened. "You already control her life, so why can't you leave her alone?"

"Why do you care? Is it because you're too afraid of love to let anyone else have at it? Or do you think you see yourself in her? Controlled, in over your head… alone so very far from home?"

"Because I want to save her!" Obi-wan could not deny anything, nor could he ignore the sensation of the world spinning about him, violently.

"From what? She's in no danger!"

"From you! That's the danger! You're going to turn her against the only friend she has… and then what? You'll be bored of her before long. Kill her? Exile? Send her to some godforsaken rim planet because you can't stand to see her face?"

"Like I should have done to you?" He had given up the emotionless pretense. The two of them just did not get along, like fire and powder. No matter what the issue, it would end up going up in smoke.

"Exactly!" They were getting down the to the core issues. This wasn't really about Katie, or even about love. It was about a relationship beyond dysfunctional, and to the reasons behind this.

"_But why can't I be happy?_ Is it because you aren't? You don't have the guts to just end it, so you have to make the rest of us miserable?"

"Because its against the Code!" There it was. In the open. The reason for his continued existence, for his entire persona.

"Damn the Code! It's dead, Obi-wan, dead and gone and buried. You're just too busy trying to come off the hero, a knight in shining armor. But you're as guilty as I am!"

"I hate you!" It was a juvenile response, but there was nothing particularly adult about the rest of their argument. He was panting from the roller coaster of emotions raging through his veins, and wishing that he could hit him. "You _and_ your whore!" He regretted the words almost immediately, as he did not hate her. But he was caught in the moment, and could not take them back.

"You leave her out of this!" If anything, Anakin was madder. Before it had been loathing Obi-wan and what of himself he could see in him, but now it was hot and possessive, defending someone he felt obliged to.

"Why should I? _She's as guilty as you are!_" Throwing the words back into his face, he couldn't help but feel a sick pleasure at trying to inflict as much verbal pain as he could.

"Leave her alone! I don't care what you say to me, but leave her out of this!" Had he been able, he would have loved to be at Obi-wan's throat. Making him choke, literally, on those words.

"Was that an _order_, Master?" He snarled back, pacing. They'd been walking back and forth, pacing like caged tigers. It was like the circling of a saber duel, though they did not draw any open weapons.

"Yes it was. Now get out of my sight." He was livid, and it would be woe to any innocents who chanced to pass him that evening.

Obi-wan raised a mocking eyebrow, before bowing with much scornful pomp. "As you wish." He then disappeared from sight, simply vanishing into the background in a heartbeat.

- - -

Katie could her heart pounding in her ears as she scurried fearfully down the hall. Things were spinning out of control even faster now, and she couldn't help but feel alone. There was nothing she could do now, and the disgust and pity in Obi-wan's eyes had cut her deeper than a knife.

Mel would find out as well. That was the thing that scared her, which she was most loath to face. Mel would not understand, and most likely wouldn't try. Katie would be forever stupid in her eyes, a weak female willing to sacrifice all for a man who didn't love her, couldn't love her. Mel would see charisma, or at least the attraction of power, at work. She would also see the age difference, all six or seven years of it.

But would she be right? Katie had no way of ever completely knowing all her own motives, ever really understanding herself fully.

She knew she was being submissive, but was that weak? The saying was that it took more courage to be a passenger than a driver, so wasn't there a kind of strength in giving in? She hadn't any control anyway, was just being swept away in the flow. Mel had managed to find an island in the river, but Katie was left clinging to the sides in vain. Shouldn't she just let go and let someone else make the decisions for her? She'd never wanted to be in charge, but she'd used to hate the system that took that choice away from her. Its not like she'd ever had any sort of control over anything before all this had happened, so what was the difference? He had her life in his hands so why not her heart?

Was it just her cowardice that held her back? Was the pain of limbo worse than either alternative? Or did she even have a choice? Would he decide for her, if a time came? She could feel herself receding into her own mind, looking for a single rope or way out.

Things were happening just much to fast for her to cope… far too fast for her to react in time. Even her mind was a mess, disorganized reasons and feelings cluttering a purpose she wasn't entirely sure of. She was sinking fast than ever, and the weight from above was starting to crush her. If only someone would save her before she lost it completely…

- - -

Slipping inside, Katie barely had a chance to breathe before Mel lost the fight to keep her mouth shut. "How could you?"

"How could I what?" Katie looked desperate, as the fact that Mel knew everything dawning painfully upon her too late. "He told you!"

"No. I found you myself!" Mel yelled, feeling suddenly horribly betrayed. "How could you?" It was the inevitable cycle of their arguments. They would both feel the victim, and so would lash out in perceived self-defense while truly carving deeper than an offense would have.

"I. Love. Him!" Katie snarled, backing to the wall and on the defensive. The emotions were running extremely high, and the tension was almost palpable. It wasn't what was being said, so much as what was being thought. They would not yell insults at each other, but slights would be understood, internalized and made far beyond what they were.

"But you can't!" Katie had been there to take the high road _with_ Mel, not to fall off and crash and burn. "You can't know what love is!"

"You don't know either!" was the impassioned retort. "At least I'm willing to try."

"But why must you try with him? He's evil! Tyrant! **Murderer**!" Mel was just as full of feeling.

"I did not choose to love him. And how dare you love me, not knowing what I feel? Without knowing him?" Falling, falling, falling. Why was she so adamant to deny what was so true? Now she understood how love could kill as easy as it could heal, or level a city.

"You're blind! You're blind, you're blind, you're blind! How can you not see?" Their voices were nearing shrieks, and both of their eyes were wet with tears. But they would not, could not cry. That would be to demonstrate the weakness at the center of this, to rip the argument's heart out and display it. Mel could not help but feel like the world was spiraling, sky flying above her head.

"If you're eyes are so clear, why can't you understand? I love him, I do!" This was desperately said, desperately meant. Was she wrong, if no one could understand her? Or were they all as blind?

Katie was feeling much the misunderstood lover, ready to defend his honor. But what could she do? Mel had made up her mind, and would not be shaken from it. They had once pledged that nothing could tear them apart and least of all something as trivial as a man. But that was the unavoidable truth, as glaring as the wet on their cheeks.

Mel could not help but feel uneasy. Her friend was in far over her head, and she needed to come to her senses before she got hurt. He was obviously just toying with her emotions for his own reasons, and Katie was only reacting in self-preservation. Because, of course, no one could love so very wrongly.

And so the sun set, closing an evening of pain and bitter revelation. The height of the day was traded for the numb of the night, a transition that was not all good. There was an elephant in the room, and would still be there in the morning. But would they see it? Could it be ignored? Or would they fight still?


	21. Chapter 21: Code of Silence

Katie, interestingly enough, slept very well that night. She'd blacked out the moment her head had hit the pillow, and did not wake till some time after Mel had already dressed and left for her pre-breakfast bashing session.

Groggy and spent from the wild roller coaster of emotions she'd ridden that night, she swiped at her face with a very cold wet cloth. It helped, sort of, and she managed to get dressed without falling over.

After trying, and then re-trying to put her boots on the right feet, she wandered down the hall, and the stairs, towards his room. It wasn't all that early in the morning, and she wanted to talk about what had happened the night before, and what it meant for them. He was in, so she didn't have to stand about looking confused (not that that was new) for long.

"Good morning." He smiled at her. It had not been a particularly good morning, but it was difficult for anything not to be good with her around. Sweeping her up in a one-armed hug he kissed her, letting her hair down with the other. He liked it better that way.

She took up a seat at the table he was working at, where various official-looking sheets with shiny seals awaited his signature. It was difficult to keep the giddy half-smile off of her face, partially because she enjoyed being with him, but mostly because he had been lounging about shirtless. "Good morning." _What had she come about, again?_

"About last night." He didn't seem concerned, outwardly, though she had no way of getting into his head to see whether he was acting.

"Yes?" She was not so sanguine.

"Don't worry about it." He grinned, and reached out to gently touch the side of her face. "They can't do anything about it."

She leaned her head into his hand. "Does this mean no more hiding?" In a way the nightly escapades had been thrilling, but she disliked being a sort of 'closet girlfriend'.

"Well… not really." He pulled her in closer, her face to his chest. "I don't want it to go any farther… I don't want you to become a target." He added hastily, trying to soothe any doubts she might have had about his motives. "I don't want you to get hurt."

She only sighed in response. There was undeniable logic behind his reasoning, but she didn't like it all the same. They stayed like that for some time, her leaning against him, he stroking her hair. It would have been a exceedingly tender moment had not both of them been contemplating her possible demise.

"What should I do about Mel?" She asked, breaking the silence. "She… doesn't approve." That was putting it mildly.

"Just forget about her. They don't understand, and they don't matter." How oddly soothing an idea…

She let the silence envelop them again, not willing to give that answer. She loved Mel as well, though in an entirely different way! Would she have to choose? If so… which would be the lesser of the two evils? Living without her best friend, or her lover?

- - -

Mel was having a less peaceful time, though she was heartily enjoying it. He'd had her go through a long set of give-and-takes, then some meditation, and now they were sparring. It was oddly relaxing, being able to concentrate on just her physical reactions and discarding any moral quandaries. The meditation was relaxing as well, thinking of absolutely nothing a nice change from the queries of last night.

Easily deflecting her blow, Obi-wan called for a brief break. He'd had some simple food, fruit, bread and cheese, sent down so that they could eat without rejoining the rest of the mad society. Crunching at a weirdly patterned citrus thing, he broke the companionable silence first. "I know what you're thinking. 'How can I save her? How could she do that to me? Is she blind?'"

Mel nodded. He'd been basically right an all three accounts, which shouldn't be a surprise. He was Obi-wan, after all. "Does that mean you haven an answer?"

"No." It was about time he was honest to someone. "I don't think there is anything, anything at all you can do that won't alienate her further. And once she realizes the truth, she'll need you more than ever." Assuming, of course, that she didn't _like_ it.

Mel sighed, looking dejected. She hated not being able to do anything, or even think of a possibility. It was so close to be helpless that she loathed it, despised having to accommodate something she had absolutely no control over. It was like watching someone play with matches, knowing they were going to hurt themselves badly, and being unable to call out or stop them. "I wish I could _do _something!" The worst part was knowing that even if she ignored it, the problem would hardly go away. And there wasn't anyone who could take it off her hands.

"I know…" He gently, and a tad awkwardly, patted her arm.

"Are you going to do anything?" She asked, suddenly sharply. She was looking up at him, all vagueness gone from her eyes.

"I can't." Again with the bitter honestly. "I tried to talk to him, but its not like he'll let go of her now. And she wouldn't listen even if I tried to talk to her, not in a million years." He took another bite. Crunch.

"So what should I do?" The Mel from Before would have laughed at this. The 'great and fearless leader' of her little posse, asking for help? Even if she needed it? But Mel had been brought down some notches, learned how very little she actually knew and how it was not to be in control at all.

"Nothing. Forget about it. Let her think you finally approve… or that you just don't care." Obi-wan had never understood why anyone would bother looking to him for help, not with this, considering what a fiasco _it_ had been…

Mel sighed, heavily. What could she do?


	22. Chapter 22: Curious

Katie had been minding her own business, fighting with a particularly vicious tangle of wires, when she noticed something odd. 'Odd' was not the freakishly aquatic Terryal, nor the fact that he was (apparently) molting pieces of glowing green all over the place. Neither was it the steady hum of conversation in foreign languages, or the constant static of 'secure' communications.

'Odd' was way Terryal seemed to be monitoring something on his screen, and taking detailed notes. Now, this would not have been half as interesting had the screen held some schematic or plan, but it instead seemed to be footage from one of the security tapes. Again, if the footage had only concerned some important place, such as the torture rooms. But it seemed to be from none other than Obi-wan's "office"… Obviously the camera had been installed hastily, the angle was horrible and it obscured everything that the Jedi was scribbling at so diligently.

Curious. Was this for some blackmail plot, perhaps? Voyeurism? She made a face at that possibility. The first step was determining whether Terryal was supposed to be doing this. If so, then Obi-wan was obviously suspicious enough to be monitored. If not, then the Main Control Room officer needed to be watched himself… and his reasons uncovered.

What was the easiest way to find out anything? Ask someone. So, while maybe not the best way, the easiest way of seeing whether Terryal was breaking a rule was to walk up and see if he acted suspicious. Mel would have frowned on such an obtuse, blunt way of going about it, but Mel wasn't there.

"Sorry to be interrupting, but which colors go to what again?" It wasn't entirely fabrication. The Empire obviously enjoyed making things difficult, as a blue end never matched a blue end. It might match a green or red, but never more than once.

Pulling up another screen, he simply shook his head at her. "It doesn't matter. Your time's up anyway." He then ushered he out of the room, nicely but firmly.

Katie wouldn't have thought much of it, as that was how he reacted normally, until she turned around partly down the hall to see a furtive-looking Obi-wan sliding through the doors.

Curiouser and curiouser.

- - -

As they finally left the frigid surface of the god-forsaken snowball, things looked like they might actually turn out all right. Of course, that could have been a complacent imagining, fueled more by a desire for peace than for the reality of it. Things may have managed to settle into a routine, however precarious and screwy, had not fate interfered. Fate, that is, and the recklessness of men with nothing to lose.

But they were not to know this. As it was, they all knew very little. Katie had not even noticed that they had even left the surface of Hoth until sometime that night. She'd slipped out of the room as usual (why? There was no need to, but it had gotten to be a way of life), and was walking down the hall until she came level with that window. It had been so very dark, so oppressively starless, for a moment she'd felt like she was drowning.


	23. Chapter 23: Can't Tame The Lion

"Since you seem to be progressing so very nicely, I've decided to let you try something a little different." Coming from Obi-wan, that was high praise indeed. But he was grinning, which was never much of a good sign.

"Great." Was Katie's response, as she rolled her eyes. Somehow, whenever Obi-wan was happy, she was very soon not to be.

He flicked her casually, acting as though the last several days had not happened. It was what all four of them had decided, unanimously, to do; though separately. This had not affected the spread of gossip throughout the ship, and Katie had been plagued by all the typical rumors and funny looks.

"So what are we doing?" Mel asked, though not quite eagerly. She was tired, as Katie had been out unusually late the night before. She'd started to wonder if her friend was going to come back at all; and the idea had worried her.

"You're going to learn a new skill." He always looked exceedingly reasonable when he smiled, which was partly why it was so very threatening. "Eyes in the back of your head, so to speak." He then pulled out two black blindfolds from a hidden pocket.

Katie snorted. Its not that he was being particularly funny, it's just that when she saw the sashes, the first word to pop into her head was 'bondage'.

He gave her a suspicious look, as though he could read her mind and disapproved. "Take these, you can tie them yourselves." He went on talking, while also handing them their lightsabers. "Now, I want you two to stand _here_," Point, point. "Now, I'm going to pace around you two. You need to concentrate on where I am."

Mel instinctively tried to concentrate on her hearing.

"No, that's not what I meant." He gently poked her ear. "You can hear me only because I want you to. But in the middle of a fight, are you really going to be able to ask everyone to politely to shut up so you can watch your back?" He kept pacing in a sort of figure eight, making sure they kept their attention on him and him alone.

Katie thought about this for a moment, when the obvious hit her. He meant that they should use The Force! Duh. Feeling the idiot, she felt/sent/sensed a wave (much like the heat waves one saw on hot highways) rise from her in all directions. This expanded into a sort of bubble of awareness, and she found she could 'read' the expressions on his face when he was in this bubble.

Without warning, as he had stopped speaking, he lunged at her side with the saber. She knew where he was and what he was doing, though this odd extended awareness, and blocked with a crash.

"Exactly what I meant." He conceded, nodding at her. "Generally, you get used to the idea of being able to really feel the air around you. Ideally, you keep this 'bubble' up whenever there is a chance of danger, as it is both advance warning, and a safety measure." He talked them through raising and lowering this bubble a few times, mindful of Mel's pride at not understanding this first (and then having problems with the concept).

Mel was not really, or openly, irritated; she just had a tendency to get frustrated when something didn't come easily to her (as most things did). It wasn't a flaw, per se, but it added to the competitive edge that she often had.

After he was satisfied that they understood how to do it, he expanded on the idea. "Say you lose your saber, but you are still in a threatening situation. What do you do?" He did not wait for an answer to this question, though both of them had a few. None were particularly helpful, though. "When you think of a bubble, what is one of the first things to come to mind?"

"Safety?" Mel contributed hastily. Katie nodded at her friend. _She_ had been about to say something idiotic along the lines of 'butterfly' or 'shiny' or maybe 'wand', and was glad to be spared the indignity.

"Exactly." Obviously, if Mel had the correct answer she was good at this. If Katie did, then he was teaching them right. He was not overtly biased, but it was difficult not to be, once you knew them long enough. He simply got along with Mel better, as they had similar philosophies. "Now, if you really work on the feel of the bubble, of the energy, you can create a hard surface. Not like a table, or something, exactly… more like a shield. A wall." He demonstrated, encasing himself in a shiny, shifting surface. It was clear, composed of energy, so one could not see it. But one could see where it _wasn't_, and follow the patterns of light and shadow until one figured out where it was.

Entranced, Katie tried to reach out and touch the bubble. Her hand went flat, and though she'd touched a rock wall, only this rock wall _stung_. She backed off with a bit of a yelp, eyeing that shifting miasma warily.

Mel laughed a bit. "Katie and her shiny…" Whatever tensions there had been were gone in that moment. For once, that is. But of course, that moment should not last long.

A messenger, one of the irritatingly common techies (common, that is, when things were working. But once it broke… poof!) popped his head in. He looked rather smug, as though whatever he had to say would change the entire course of the existence of the galaxy. And in a very odd and backward way, he was right. "Lord Vader wishes to speak with his padawan."

Katie looked slightly alarmed, then simply puzzled. Why did he need her now? What would be, could be so important that he couldn't wait an hour? Uncertain, she looked at Mel. Her friend could only tell her the obvious, but it was habit.

The messenger coughed loudly, and rather pointedly. Katie hurried after him, head spinning.

Obi-wan waited for a moment, until he heard their footsteps receding. Nodding to Mel, he gestured for her to follow the retreating pair. If this was what he thought it was, then he had his work cut out for him. Besides, Mel deserved to find out whatever it was well.

Mel complied. Her master had suddenly looked very grave, and for a moment it had scared her to see an almost flash of fear in his eyes. If he was worried, she had better be.

- - -

They found Anakin pacing up and down the hall near the bridge. He was looking more concerned than she'd ever seen him, and Katie felt a cold wash of fear.

Ignoring the messenger, and not seeing the sneaking Mel, he wrapped her in a quick, tight hug with a kiss. She held him back, wondering what could have prompted such a display of public affection (a first, as she would have noted in other circumstances).

He let go reluctantly, aware that they were being stared at. Brushing gently at her hair, he smoothed back some pieces he had just knocked loose. It was a gesture that all present took as tender, or endearing, but he was really just trying to do something with his hands as he attempted to get his thoughts in order. He'd been discombobulated before as well, but she tended to distract him. He could think all right, but not about anything fit for conversation. Looking into her eyes, he regained his composure. "Try no to be alarmed."

Mel, hiding in an alcove some ways back (but close enough to hear) looked disgusted. Even when they weren't trying to hide anything, she found that watching the pair of them made her want to hurl. The very idea of her friend willing submitting, or even _wanting_, him to touch her was one that Mel simply could not process.

But all that was soon blown out of her mind by something far more threatening. Following some paces behind them, she peeked around the corner to the bridge. The great panes of glass (or plastic, or whatever. Mel didn't know exactly, and she didn't care) were clear of obstruction.

Mel, upon seeing what made Katie gasp and draw back into his embrace, wished that the glass had not been so very clear, or so very large.

There was a Rebel fleet, of some two dozen or more strong, and it was almost completely besieging the larger (much larger, was the only upside) craft.

"They were hiding behind one of the outer moons, sir." One of the techs piped up, looking chagrined at having missed such a large thing, as well as more than slightly afraid for his own life. The man did not add that it was a complete mystery as to how such a fleet could have found them, with the amount of the government budget spent on cloaking devices alone.

While Katie felt like she was staring the lion in the mouth, and was clinging to Anakin like a shipwrecked rat, Mel was slowly backing away. She had a horrible, sneaking suspicion that she knew how this fleet had found them.


	24. Chapter 24: Shameless

Terryal was leaving the Main Control Room, looking no more sketchy than normal. Of course, that could have simply been a well-practiced illusion. He was just closing the door when a most accusatory padawan accosted him.

Mel leaned against the opposite wall, trying to look both sophisticated and threatening at the same time. "So. Going off to reveal more secret information, or are you just running away?"

He blinked at her, looking vaguely surprised though in a sort of wet, cold-blooded fashion. "What ever do you mean?"

She twitched her nose, looking displeased. "I'm talking about you alerting that Rebel fleet." She did not give reasons for this theory, though they seemed clear enough to her. Perhaps this was because she had no concrete ones, nor any evidence. It was more gut feeling than anything.

There was a pause, as he processed that last comment. He felt suddenly relieved, and nearly started laughing. "I didn't, believe me. I owe the Empire far to much to chance my life on it." He then brushed past her, looking like that had been the funniest thing to happen to him all day.

Mel stood there glowering suspiciously after him, which provoked the following comment. "But if you're looking for spies, why don't you try a little closer to home?" Disregarding that last, cryptic quip, she set off to find something to do.

Unfortunately, that something found her.

She stumbled upon the most unusual trio of persons, or at least, some of the most uncomfortable looking ones she'd seen in a long time. It was composed of Katie, Vader and obi-wan, which was practically guaranteed to be awkward. Katie and Vader kept looking at each other as though they had been planning to (or interrupted during) have some sort of make-out session. Obi-wan was basically the only one talking, babbling on and on pointlessly, looking thoroughly amused at keeping them from what they wanted to do.

"Oh, hello." He called out jovially when he caught her eye. "I was just commenting on how I needed to find you." He gestured for her to join the not-so happy semicircle.

"So… what's going on?" Mel couldn't help feeling slightly concerned. Generally speaking, Obi-wan was subtler when it came to wrecking havoc.

"Well, there are plans to end the standoff with an offensive later tomorrow, and we were discussing what to do with you two." What he did _not _mention was that the offensive was most likely to come from the other side first. "Obviously you can't be involved, and as there is a chance of infiltration, leaving you wandering about is an equally bad choice. But locking you up is hardly fair, and not particularly safe either."

Now Mel was really worried. When was the last time Obi-wan was concerned with what was _fair_? She blinked in reply, unsure of why he was making such a big deal out of telling her what they were talking about. It didn't really matter, after all. Most likely he had his own agenda, one that she didn't understand.

If it could be called conversation, with everyone but Obi-wan quiet and uncomfortable, then the conversation dragged for quite some time before the unanimous agreement was to trust them to stay in their room. Mel had still not figured out why this really mattered now, or why Obi-wan was acting oddly. He'd been much too much like himself at his worst, but there had been a decided lack of enthusiasm.

But Mel soon forgot about all this, as something even more out of character (though, later, she would se that is really wasn't) occurred. Vader asked to speak to her, privately. Normally he'd rather spend the _least_ amount of time with her possible, so (unless he was planning to yell at her) this was highly suspicious.

Mel did not openly show her thoughts as she nodded in agreement. She was rather good at it, especially in this cheap-sitcom of a world.

He did not look at her as they waited for the others to leave, (beyond earshot, she noticed) and neither did he relax. This was not entirely surprising, and he had been looking forward to a more relaxing moment with his sweetheart when the ever irritating Obi-wan had _had_ to interfere. He'd been in a bad mood before, and it had only gotten worse.

"So." She commented, feeling something very much like tension mounting. She was a rather brave girl, though not foolhardy, and she couldn't help but feel something in between fear and being threatened.

Turning to face her slowly, menacingly, he began talking as he made eye contact. "You know that you two will be mostly on your own tomorrow, correct?"

Mel unconsciously backed up a pace. "Yes I do. That's sort of what the last half an hour has been about, hasn't it?"

Just as slowly an deliberately as before, keeping her attention on him alone, he reached out to place his hands on the wall on either side of her shoulders, leaning in until his face was scant inches form hers. "I just wanted to make one point _very _clear. You are going to be on your own, so if anything happens to her…" Her trailed off meaningfully, knowing perfectly well that she understood what he meant. "I would be very, very displeased." Giving her one last long, overly serious glare he backed off, disappearing broodingly around some utterly pointless corner.

Mel stood there, rather surprised. She knew that he didn't like her, and had guessed that he was more than a little possessive. But that had been a blatant, couldn't be more obvious death threat. With a light shiver, she walked off in the opposite direction, feigning coolness. No one needed to know, as obviously, no one but her own Master would actually believe her. Or, perhaps more correctly, they (_she!)_ would believe her, but not _want_ to.

- - -

"You have no idea how much I love you." He said this with a bit more emotion than usual. Anakin was finally getting his TLC, after yet another excruciating hour of having to be polite to such horrid people as Obi-wan.

Katie just smiled back, not commenting on how she thought she could guess. It was so very nice to just be able to forget the rest of the problems involved, and just _be_. Resting her head against his chest, she found herself relaxing utterly as he stroked her hair. After some fifteen minutes of this, she sighed, and gently pushed away. "I'm sorry, but it's getting kind of late." They had been out here for quite some time before, and she was worried about Mel thinking she wasn't going to come back. She wasn't even sure she trusted _herself_ to leave sometimes.

"Are you all right? You look… tense." Oh, the powers of male observation.

"I am, a bit. You know, what with being under siege and all."

He kissed her again at this, and she let him. She really _had _been meaning to move on, but the oddest look had crossed his face…

"I just don't think you're safe," He commented, having drawn her back into his embrace.

"Well, obviously-"

He cut her off. "That's not exactly what I meant. What I was trying to get at was, I'd rather you spent the night with me."

She blinked at him, dumbstruck. Whatever she had been expecting, an offer of sex it wasn't. Sure, he'd offer her a different place to sleep, but that was really what is was. Sex. "No, I really-"

He cut her off again, this time with a kiss. It was a more passionate, more savage one than before; she felt her knees buckling and she had to wrap her arms around him to stay on her feet. She even unconsciously moved with him, as he moved closer to the door…

"No." She pushed him away, gently. "I'm sorry, but I'm not ready for this." With a rather curt "Good night." She slipped away towards her _own_ bed. As much as she wanted him, she wanted it on her own terms. She would come to him, when she was ready, not the other way around.


	25. Chapter 25: Extremes

Mel could not help but feel slightly tense. Obviously this was an obscene understatement, given her circumstances. She was currently walking around, falsely nonchalant, in the middle of a space-age war, hoping not to die, while hoping her friend didn't die because that would also end in her own demise. No pressure really should have been her motto today, it really should.

But she'd come up with the apparently brilliant idea that they should hang out in the training area. Not only were there lightsabers there (they hadn't been approved for actually carrying the weapons anyway, but it was self-defense today), but it was a good-sized room that was also fairly out of the way. It was as safe as anywhere, what with the chaos in the skies.

Katie stayed close to her friend, walking nearer than she would have normally. She was tense as well, and more than a little afraid. Now was not a good time to have an attack of inadequacy concerning her skills, but she was never convenient. She was also feeling awfully expendable. Obviously, if she'd actually been important, she wouldn't have been thrown to the wolves! Feeling like a terrible coward, she wished that she were somewhere safe. Anakin would have had some sort of guard, he was important enough, so why couldn't she watch the battle from somewhere behind a desk with him?

Though Mel was having some vaguely similar thoughts, she was oddly excited. She'd been on a sort of adrenaline high all morning and the idea of actually getting to do something with it was sickeningly thrilling. In a way, so was the idea of killing another human being. She'd never actually seen someone die, and obviously never by her own hand. As much as it was wrong, it was fascinating. How would it feel, and… this was the worst part. _What if she liked it?_

Each deep in their own damning thoughts, both feeling weirdly disgusted with themselves, they reached the door. Oh, that door. It was a large one, what an earthly constructor would have made into a double door, though it now swooshed to one side. Katie could not help but wonder, later, what would have been if they had left that door alone…

But they did not. Mel went first, in her typical role as leader. Katie followed closely, tensing to run (thought where she did not know). They'd made it through and closed that door, halfway to the wall, when they saw them.

'Them' was a group at the opposite door, who looked just as surprised to see the two girls. They were made up of three droids, three Rebel-looking human beings, and a man (or so he looked) in Jedi clothing. There was a brief standoff as both sides blinked at the other, unsure.

Then, three things happened at once. Mel ran towards the sabers, the others opened fire, and Katie reacted. She threw up a massive wall of energy, shielding (or trying to) both her and her friend. So as all hell broke loose, Katie was clutching at her forearms. She'd flung them out, needing a pathway for this energy to travel, and it had _hurt_. She'd honestly felt _burning_ all along those veins, and for a single, _delirious_ moment, she saw black struck through with flame and an old song ran through her head. _There's a fire, in your veins, burning hot, but you don't feel the pain_…

But that was over soon, and she found herself catching the saber Mel tossed to her, and then letting her wall fade out. She'd used what seemed like a huge amount of power on that, and now she felt weirdly drained. It was her first major expenditure, and she would feel it later.

Mel rushed headlong into the trio of driods, feeling a heady rush as she flew even higher on the adrenaline surge. It was the best saber work she'd ever done, she thought later. Flawless execution of some pretty advanced moves, though her opponents did not appreciate that. Spare parts flew about, creating a fair spray of shrapnel. She did not see this, but one of these managed to whiz by and slice open a rather nasty wound on the opposing Jedi (was he really? He had a saber, and the clothing, but who knew?)'s face.

Katie had ripped open her first opponent's leg, nearly severing it at the thigh. She'd really only been aiming for that artery there, but he'd made her angry as one of his shots grazed her knee. She had another in the air, trying to choke him. She'd just been shown how to do this, and obviously had been unable to practice. It involved trying to wrap a sort of hand around the windpipe, and then crushing it. But this man was refusing to die! He'd been turning blue for what seemed like ages, but hadn't yet stilled. She was unsure of what to do, and she was missing her blocking because of it. So she did what seemed like the best idea at the time, and simply flung him at the wall. Ignoring the slight crash as he crumpled in a corner, she turned to see how the rest of the skirmish was going.

Mel was currently in a duel of sorts with the other 'Jedi', who seemed to be attempting murder by throwing things. The third human seemed to be waiting until he could snipe Mel off, which seemed to be why the 'Jedi' was maneuvering the girl into a better position. This was entirely unacceptable.

So the man lost his head, in a rather more literal sense than he ever had before. Rather a large chunk of his shoulder came along with it, due to Katie's rather overly exuberant strike from behind. Ignoring the blood that was now covering her hands, she turned to her friend and her assailant.

The mystery man hurled one of the smoking piles of shrapnel at Katie, who tried to dodge out of the way and slipped and fell on the wet floor.

That taken care of, he turned to grin rather nastily at Mel. For a brief moment he realized how very young she was, and how it was generally against his nature to kill females. But then again, most females were unarmed.

Mel glared furiously at him, from where she'd been backed against the wall. Trying to gather the threads of her mind together, determined to actually use the Force for once, Mel found herself with a demented grin. "I'm going to kill you!" She yelled at him, still riding that high.

He laughed at her, his grin as deranged. They were very similar looking, for that split second, Resistance and Imperial alike. "No, you're wrong. You're very, very wrong. I'm going to kill _you_." There was a wrenching, creaking sound as something began to come apart.

From her place on the floor some feet away Katie desperately tried to gather enough energy to choke him, but found herself terrifyingly dry.

Mel looked up for a moment, and found herself frozen in place. The platform some fifteen feet above her head was coming away from the wall, twisted and jagged pieces of metal glinting down merrily at her. "Oh shit," she murmured.

He laughed suddenly, eyes so happy and blue shining madly. "Oh shit is right." They were both so engrossed in the moment that seemed to be eternity, that neither heard Katie's desperate "No!"

Mel looked up again, one last time, as a half-ton of jagged metal fell on her with a vengeance. Oddly enough, she thought, it didn't hurt that much. As blankness swirled around her, she had one last thing on her mind. And **that** was the sudden taste of blood.

- - -

The world had seemed to slow for Katie, as she scrambled to her feet. She couldn't hear herself screaming, couldn't tell if the pained yell was echoing in her mind alone. Something, probably a slice of metal blown free from the crash, whizzed by her face. It cut her, opened a slash on her collarbone, though she did not feel it at all.

But she was not completely numbed, at least not in her mind. A wall of rage and pain and hate had risen up, and it had swamped her defenses. No matter how many times she'd been told to leave such emotion alone, she found herself using them. This was a rush beyond that of the adrenaline, one that made her feel vengeful and immune to pain, except that of her friend's almost certain death.

She would have slowed, given she'd had any control left, when she saw that this Jedi, this… man, wasn't far older than she, probably twenty at the latest. But he'd forfeited his claim on life, and that of a decent death.

What had been little more than a chaotic skirmish took on the feel of a more epic battle. He had been looking forward, earlier that is, to returning in a blaze of glory. Now that seemed closer than ever, and he'd even actually run into some Sith! But for a moment, a quick one lost in the motion, he'd been afraid. The look on her face, when that platform had come down… Maybe it would be best if he finished it fast, without a flourish.

It was surreal. Katie could barely feel the ground beneath her feet, and felt like she was somewhere far away, and someone else was her hands. Where there had been that sickening hollow, right between her ribs, there was something burning. It felt wrong, but then it didn't, and she didn't give a damn to the condition of her soul if it meant that he would die!

He would himself wearing down, surprised at the half-mad way she was managing to wear him down. He'd thrown out as much of the force he'd had left, but had lost miserably at that tact. Thinking, for that single fatal moment, he missed her cue. Faltering, he was lost for a single heartbeat.

She drove in and down, catching him right across his saber hand. Severing that, viciously with a grin on her face, she did not give him time to feel the pain. Tearing up across his abdomen she disarmed him again, with a horrible and unconscious laugh.

And he fell, blood bubbling on his lips disgustingly, at her feet. Without a shred of mercy she abandoned her illusions of decency, of decorum, of The Code, and stepped on his throat. Bearing down slowly, eyes locked with his, she eventually choked the life from what had rapidly become a battered piece of humanity.

Riding the waves of pain, of rage, she did not stop. Up to here she had been justified, had felt righteous in her utter destruction of this killer. He had not a name, she did not need one for him, as that would have made him human. This way, he was not, merely something to destroy. Without thinking, beyond rational thought, she began viciously dismembering the corpse, ripping it to barely recognizable parts and pieces.

When there was finally nothing left to do, she came (slowly) to herself. Finding herself standing above this pool of blood, she felt a sudden, painful stab of pity. Quashing it, she turned away to throw up.

But she did not get that far. The man that she had botched the killing of, the one she'd tried to throw against the wall was not dead yet. He was a doomed man, it was sure, but he had a few moments in him yet. Finding his arm utterly without ammunition, he'd done the next best thing. Reversing it, he'd pistol-whipped her, right at the base of her skull.

Spinning about with the excessive force, she (mercifully) blacked out, sprawled out in this gory field of needless carnage. Muttering bitterly to himself the man limped back down against the wall, where he leaned. Letting out a deep sigh with his last breath, he closed his eyes, a smile on his lips.


	26. Chapter 26: Open Wounds

Obi-wan skidded down the hall, nearly missing that all-important door. He had been off leading the charge from behind a desk when the news of the fight had reached him. He had not waited to hear any details before racing off, and he hoped that either (a) he hadn't missed something important, and (b) that he wasn't too late. That thought chilled him to the bone, and he had never felt the weight of guilt any heavier than he felt it now.

Coming to a dead halt in the doorway, he surveyed the bloody mess with growing dismay. No one appeared to be moving; though it was difficult to tell for sure why. Apprehension building, he began tiptoeing around the bodies for a closer look.

Katie was the easiest to identify, lying in a massive pool to his left. Thankfully she was breathing (but unconscious), though he found himself (the hardened warrior he was) recoiling slightly from the mess of the body beside her. But so far she was the only one alive.

Poking at the other bodies fretfully, he found the tension building greater and greater within himself with every confirmed dead body. _Where the hell was his padawan? _Even if she were dead, the body would have to be around here somewhere. Perhaps she had been taken captive? That was intensely unlikely. This had been the only breach of security, and there had been no unauthorized ships that had left.

The leaden weight of guilt that had sunk into his stomach fell further. This was not supposed to happen! The entire affair had been meant has a threat, as a way for him to get back a little at the Empire, a way for him to salvage a little of his self-respect. But his plans always went well like this, didn't they?

A few shades from nearly frantic, he spotted it. The boot, presumably still connected to the rest of the girl, poking out from under the wreckage of a platform. _NO!_

- - -

Katie came to herself rather slowly, which was only to be expected. She was lying curled on one side, nestled comfortably on the silk sheets, which really were an improvement over her own- Wait a minute. Silk sheets? _Where_ was she? Opening her eyes and flinching as what light there was hit them, she found herself facing an extremely communicative blank white wall. Frowning at it, she rolled over (wincing a bit. She'd obviously been in one place for a while).

And found the answer to her question pacing pensively (or perhaps merely out of boredom, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt) by her bedside. "Mmmnph." Or, as she had meant to say, good morning.

"Hullo?" Obviously, as in tune to her as Anakin was, he didn't speak Katie. He did, however, look relieved to see her conscious (coherency, or lack of, aside).

Coughing, she tried again. "Hello." It was a rather thrilling conversation, but she was trying to see if she had any lasting injuries. So far, nothing except for a bandage wrapped around her right upper arm. She did notice that she was wearing clean, not bloody clothing (which she _presumed_ was her own) and she as well was clean and not bloody. Deciding it was best not to ask, she did find herself hoping that he _wasn't_ the one who had washed and dressed her. "So what happened?"

"You were hit rather hard in the back of the head and blacked out. There was a possibility of brain damage, so you were put under for yesterday and most of today, just to give them a chance to monitor things." Though he didn't say it, he could have told her exactly how long, to the hour, that she had been out. It had been a bit of a nerve-wracking experience. "But it really wasn't anything else serious, just a few cuts or scrapes and they needed the beds open the medical ward, so I brought you down here. Besides, it made watching over you a bit more convenient." He'd fudged it again. It was more his being absolutely unwilling to let her out of his sight, and no one really feeling like arguing.

She, sitting up some, found the idea of sleeping here, in his bed, while completely unaware of the surroundings, rather creepy. Not that she didn't trust him… well, that was the entire problem. Not exactly trusting him. Nodding at him, she tried to form the question that had been plaguing her since before she'd blacked out. "How is… Mel?"

He looked away for the first time, breaking the eye contact. "She's alive." Hardly giving her a chance to really think about this, or to question if and what he was hiding, he dragged her into his embrace. "But why be so dark? You're awake, aren't you?" Grinning at her, he gently caressed her face. "You have no idea how worried I was."

She sighed a bit, but relaxed into his hold. "I love you too." She was now something more worried than she had been; though it was rather nice to know that her friend was still among the living. Letting him kiss her, she found her mind less on the fireworks behind her eyes and more on how she was going to have to pump him for information later. That is, if he wasn't expecting anything more given that she was already _on_ his bed, and had already (in a sort of literal and backward way) slept with him.

- - -

First thing Mel realized was that she could think. Check one: consciousness. She was lying on her back, head elevated with what felt like three pillows, and it was taking rather more than the usual effort to breathe. Other than that, she felt miraculously free of pain. _Obviously, you're either dead or paralyzed,_ scoffed an inner voice (one of many, as it were). Feeling something catch in her throat, she spasmed to one side and coughed.

Through her squinted eyes she could see a bowl thrust out under her head. Expelling what felt like a large nasty blob of mucus from deep in her lung she made a face while swiping at her mouth. Glancing at her hand, she was shocked to find it bloody.

"You're late." It was her ever pleasant, entirely too reasonable Master. He plunked the bowl on the nightstand, while dropping himself into the already pulled-up chair.

"What?" Mel had only half-paid attention. She was much too morbidly fascinated by the splash of blood in the bowl, complete with a shiny, rounded, squishy-looking blood clot the size of her palm.

"The 'experts' in the wing said you'd be awake some hour and a half ago." Looking up in surprise at these words, she realized that that _wasn't_ where she was. Glancing around, she realized that the small but neat room, with its polished wood desk and chairs, had to be his own personal room. Obviously, last time she'd been there, she hadn't been paying much attention.

"How long have I been out?" Last thing she really remembered was that damned platform coming down.

"Five and half days, I believe." Which had meant, though he wasn't going to say anything, five days of no sleep for him. His guilt was crushing enough, without letting her expire while he napped.

"Oh." There wasn't much to say to that, though the feeling of having missed such a chunk of time was decidedly odd. "What happened to me?"

"Would you like the entire list?" She nodded. "One collapsed lung (the right), a broken arm, fractured ankle, foot-long laceration down your thigh, another on your left arm, and seven or eight smaller cuts in various places." He paused, sipping at the cup of tea he'd already had out. The coffee maker had broken (damn thing!) and he'd needed caffeine. "Which is surprising, given the tom of metal you were squashed under for about two hours. But you were incredibly lucky. He stressed the platform too much before dropping it so it curved, _and_ you dropped right befor_e_ it fell on you. Which saved _you_ from a crushed skull. Also, the shrapnel that pierced your lung slid right between your ribs, instead of breaking them. And if you had turned around at all, before it fell, it would have sliced right through your heart

Mel placed a hand on her ribs protectively, before grabbing at the bowl as she lapsed into another coughing fit. Taking the handkerchief he offered her blindly, she tried to blink away the stars that clouded her darkening vision. "Then why aren't I in a whole lot more pain?" she finally choked out, panting.

"Because you weren't in a coma for the last four days. Rather, they put you in a similar state, stasis, which along with all the highly developed drugs you were pumped full of, healed the rest up far faster than normal. But after they'd spent an hour cutting your chest open to reinflate the lung, no one wanted to chance cleaning it out. So you'll be coughing blood clots for a while, until it clears itself out." He sounded much like his normal cheery self, but there were deeper circles carved beneath his eyes, and what looked like worry lines around his mouth.

"And why am I in your room?" Mel commented, not sure if she liked the idea of loads of futuristic drugs floating around her system. But, hey, it's not like she wanted to complain about being alive.

"Because they always miscalculate the number of casualties, and once you were out of the woods they needed your bed. But someone still needed to be watching just in case, and this happened to make it more convenient for me. Once you're cleared to walk, you can go back to your own room."

"I can't walk yet?" Mel sounded shocked. The idea that she needed medical permission to do something she'd been doing since she was two was preposterous.

"Course not. Otherwise, who'd stay still long enough to listen to me?" He really had missed having someone to talk too. No one else ever really paid him any attention, unless they wanted to yell at him.

She laughed, but that meant coughing. She had a sinking feeling that she'd be spending the better half of her time leaning over that bowl, quite literally hacking up a lung. "So how is Katie doing?" She said this deliberately calmly, as for all she knew her friend could be dead. But surely he would have told her beforehand…?

"Dreadfully bored. She's been up and about for the last three days, and there really hasn't been anything for her to do." _Besides Vader,_ he added mentally, but such an obvious double entendre was beneath him to utter aloud.

"What had happened?"

"Head wound. Apparently someone didn't feel like just lying and dying, so he pistol-whipped her. Nothing too serious, they were just worried about brain damage." He omitted the part about Katie turning the man who'd attacked Mel into dog food. That wasn't particularly important.

"Not that anyone would have noticed." Mel commented, grinning to herself.

There was a bit of an awkward silence, partly due to her coughing every third word and him attempting to finish his tea before it went cold. But he did break it, after finishing his caffeine fix. Getting up, he turned and made meaningful eye contact. "Don't ever do that again. You really had me worried there." Giving her a brief, but comradely, pat on the arm, he waltzed off.

Mel sat there, watching him, not realizing that she was still grinning into the empty air.


	27. Chapter 27: Double Vision

Mel lay there as silently as she could, listening. Her master's footsteps were fading out until she couldn't hear them over her own heartbeat any more. Down in the training room they were about to review the security tapes of The Incident, life-size. Obviously, she was dying to be included, but hadn't been cleared yet. So, not surprisingly, she was planning to get up and walk anyway.

Slowly, she rolled to one side, and levered herself into a sitting position. This brought about a coughing fit, but thankfully she'd been spewing less and less blood lately. Resting a moment, she wrapped an arm around her ribs protectively. It was just so weird, this constant tightness and shortness of breath. But it had been getting better…

Gritting her teeth, not liking all these mental pictures of being 'invalid' forever, she _threw_ herself into a standing position, and strode to the door.

And nearly collapsed against the frame. Clutching at it for support, she coughed so hard she began to black out. Of course, as a symbol of her rebellion she had not grabbed the bowl, and instead splashed red blood in a morbid arc across his wall. As the invisible band across her ribs tightened, she found herself ruing her own stubbornness. _I'm going to fall over and _die _here, just because I was too impatient to wait…_

But this too came to pass, and soon she could breathe. Straightening, she smiled rather haughtily at the door, which had become something of the damned symbol of her imprisonment in its failure to open for her. Pressing the button melodramatically, she began to walk down the hall. It was more strolling gingerly, as every breath caused a sharp stab across her middle. But she ignored this, drawn inexorably towards an end, or the means of one.

- - -

The room looked rather grandly surreal, what with life-size flickering figures of blue rushing about and dying upon the floor. Katie was sitting atop a platform near the one that had fallen, and found it rather thrilling. That is, until she watched 'herself' become drenched in blood as she ripped into the carcass of the 'Jedi' man. Seeing her friend crushed by the platform again was just as heart stopping, though she felt even more incredulous that Mel had managed to survive. Shuddering as she thought of how very easy it would have been for her friend not to have, she (surreptitiously) slid her hand into Anakin's (who was standing beside her, protectively). He intertwined their fingers, and would have done more if Obi-wan had not been there. Despite this is was hard to choke down a sense of grandeur, to beat back the grandiose sentiments of war. Death was not to be celebrated, should not bring on that hunter's high. But it did, and any regrets paled besides. What a slippery slope indeed, between control and losing it.

Melissa, lit in broad relief as she stood it the doorway left ajar, felt not these twisted strands of reasoning. Or, if she did, they did not come close to the sprays of remorse that had begun to cloak her thinking. They looked so young, so naive and not at fault, both side alike. Too young to have been thrown into this melee, too young know the start of this war. War was hell, and it was with that that she watched. Madness, that's all it was. Sheer and legal madness. After all, what did the Resistance do but defend their homes? Their livelihood? _Their freedom_? It had such parallels to that revolution so past in her own homeland, yet not too long ago. Was there any right or wrong to this, or would it descend to needless, pointless carnage? Was that the future, or what she saw while astride a newly clean battlefield? For that was what it was. And one bright, viciously shining moment, she felt the pure terror of a trapped animal. She did not start this, and she would not ever end it, and it would cost her. Her sanity, her friends (_friend?_), her life… she knew not what. But this was one horridly heavy rock atop a steep hill, and once it was started would destroy all that lay in its path. And with this she turned away, feeling at once repulsed from and drawn to this perfectly, lethally clear sentence. So she left this room with its echoes, walking with a new purpose. Her own pains were forgotten, and she was heedless of the blood trail she left in her wake.

But she was watched, not maliciously, but rather protectively. He had been unable to watch the reenactment as well, and could relate to the mixed, twisting emotions upon her face. He could not but admire her strength, in bearing the pain both physical and mental. Scolding her was out of the question. On her face her own questions were apparent as well, ones he would (could? _should_?) answer sooner than later. If she was to live in this mushroom-cloud of a world she might as well hear as to how it had come to this, the flawless rains of fire.


	28. Chapter 28: I Want To Know What Love Is

She awoke from an incoherent dream with a scream on her lips, though not from the ensnaring delusions from which she had awoken. Rather, it was the actual scream from the bed across the way, as Mel thrashed her way out of yet another nightmare.

Katie glared at her companion unabashedly, helplessly, feeling the weight of guilt. She had not a single nightmare, no dreams of carnage or spells of remorse, and had invented them to keep from admitting. Rather, she fell into deliriums of _want_, of _need_, and awoke feeling hollow and horribly aware of her own physical self. This had been going on for at least half a fortnight, perhaps longer. The days seemed hazy and unimportant compared to this hell of a night, and the darknesses had begun to run together in cloudy spells of monochrome. Even the nightmares had to be better than this.

Feeling nearly crushed by the weight of her own angsts and thoughts, she threw off the restraining covers and wrapped a sullenly dark cloak about her shoulders, unconsciously muttered excuses as she went. As it was, she barely realized that she had left the room until she stood down the hall, glaring balefully at the window.

It was dead black, even the distant stars being too bright for this particular night. She leaned against it, letting her knees buckle as she pressed her forehead against the painfully cold glass. It looked much like she imagined the bottom of the sea must, dark and cold and lonely. But there was no surface above her to break through, only impersonally white ceilings decked with malevolently orange lights. Making up a mind that had already resigned itself, she threw herself away from the wall. A snatch of a long-forgotten haunting Celtic tune danced through her chaos, and for a moment she almost saw fans of color whirling through the air in tempo.

A hand, seemingly from nowhere, grabbed her shoulder. With a choked scream, jolted out of her own madness, she snarled at this intruder.

"You don't want to do this." How ironic it was, to see Obi-wan as the sane one in this equation.

"How do _you_ propose to know what I do or do not wish to do?" What could he possibly mean by skulking about at the dead of night and nearly scaring the hell out of her?

He caught her eyes, unwillingly and reluctant on her part. But what she saw in there was pity, kindness, and it cut deeper than any anger could ever have. "_Don't_." Was all he said, noting her reactions closely.

"Why?" It came out more petulant and desperate than she had wanted, wavering disgustingly.

"Because this is the 'point of no return'. You go any farther, and there is no going back." She blinked at him, not understanding exactly what he was trying to say. "What I mean is, you give him this, and he will _never_ let you go. Ever." For a single moment he thought that he might have gotten through to her, as melodramatic as it was.

But she looked him in the eye one last time, shook her head mutely, and just walked on by.

He waited until she was out of earshot before cursing. He'd thought, he'd honestly thought, that he'd be able to get through to her like this. That he'd be able to save her… and so save himself. For this was not just about her, or about the rightness or wrongness of it all. It was about him trying to clear his own name, in his own mind. For he could not but blame himself, for not stopping this in that very beginning. Deep in a melancholy only he could have known he wandered down that stretch of hallway. Where he was going he did not know, but he could find a way to manage. _Somehow_.

- - -

In front of that chamber door, Katie paused for a long moment. In the anticlimactic silence, she found herself wonder what the hell she was doing there. How much did she really want what she came for? Would she regret this, in the morning? But she could have examined herself, and her motives, until hell froze over. Shaking these concerns as best she could, she knocked softly upon that chamber door.

Obligingly appearing, he looked as far from any romantic's concept of a knight in shining armor as it was possible to. But then again, she'd never _wanted _that knight. Instead she found herself swooning over the way he looked in black, and that faintly rakish smile in those eyes.

Those eyes, which held more than a little confusion over her visit, and the way she was looking at him. "Are you all right?" Anakin asked, concerned, pulling her in closer so he could better see her face.

She reached up to kiss him, letting the heat loosen her tongue. "Yes. I…I just…" She looked away at the ceiling, at the floor, helplessly unable to phrase the turmoil within. "_I can't stand to hear her dream tonight!_" Wrapping her arms tighter about his neck, Katie pressed herself to him, wishing he would just take her now.

Answering her heat with some of his own, he kissed her again, hand not buried in her hair at the small of her back. "I love you," was the hoarse whisper, as they tumbled inside. He had heard only 'I can't stand to dream tonight', but his intended cure was what she had wanted. Not a thought was spared as to the overt nature of this tryst, or of the reasonable (perhaps in the right, perhaps not) objections.

She did not answer, mouth busy with his, as she attempted to untie his sash. Obviously, she had not woken him up, which would have been more convenient.

Never before had she known anything to feel this good or ever felt so much sheer pleasure from any action. So when she did fall asleep, sprawled comfortably in his arms, it was without regret.

He had none either, only an immense satisfaction at having had her at last, and how lovely she looked sleeping there in _his _bed, in _his_ embrace.


	29. Chapter 29: A Rock And A Hard Place

Mel's groggy eyes did not appreciate the blinking clock numbers. Six o'clock? Already? She felt like she had been run over by something overly heavy, a morning sensation she'd just begun to get used to. The nightmares kept her from any restful sleep, or waking refreshed. Instead she had to make do with more awake than she'd been that night, and deal with it. But there was something wrong with this scene, something that she hadn't caught right away that was still horribly, horribly wrong…

Then she saw it, the empty bed across from hers, blankets frozen in the same positions as the last time she'd seen them. _So Katie hadn't come back, not this time_.

- - -

Obi-wan looked, if possible, as tired as she was, as if he hadn't gotten any sleep at all. Instead of his usual semi-sarcastic 'good morning' he just sent her a weary smile, and gestured to the empty seat across from him at the table. The training room was entirely deserted except for them, as always, and was the perfect place for a private conversation.

There was a silence, more contemplative than awkward, as they both tried to sift through their own conflicted thoughts. He broke the silence, as he felt was his duty, eyes looking her over sympathetically. "She never came back last night, did she?"

"No." Mel replied, and that single syllable carried more weight than it would have thought possible. It spoke of the last stages of the descent to the Dark Side, of an impending madness.

"I'm so sorry." His voice was deceptively calm, devoid of any real emotion but pity. "If its any consolation, it was under her own free will."

"You saw her?" Mel turned _to_ him, not quite _on_ him, eyes accusatory. "Why didn't you… try to stop her or something?"

He looked down and away, his conscience at odds with itself. "I did try! She'd made up her mind, and there wasn't anything I could do about it." Her eyes did not leave his face, and he sighed in frustration. "Its not like I could have tied her up or forced her not to go. She had decided, rightly or wrongly, that that was what she wanted to do. It is not the Jedi way to force someone to do something so against his or her own will, and she only would have done it at another time, when there wasn't anyone to watch her. And pushing her so, trying to force her to see reason, would only send her faster to the Dark Side."

Mel looked away, as what he had said made far too much sense for her taste. "Do you think he really loves her?"

"No." Obi-wan answered a tad too quickly. There was always the possibility… but he did not believe it, nor want to believe it. "I do not think he is capable of love, not the way we would define it." His tone, he realized a tad too late, had been rather more bitter than she would understand.

"Do you think she really loves him?" Mel pressed on, ignoring his perplexing attitude. That could come later.

"Yes, I think she either really does love him, or has herself _convinced_ that she does." He looked away from her, not liking the heavy weights of guilt that had settled into his stomach. In a way this had been his fault, entirely, but she did not know that yet. In fact, she knew very little about how the situation had started in the first place.

There was a short silence, as Mel steeled herself to ask the question she had been meaning too for some time, but had never had to the courage too. "Why do you work for him, if you dislike him so much?"

Obi-wan sighed, biting his lip as he searched for a way to condense his story. "Would you like the whole story? It's a long one… but it explains more than it doesn't."

Mel shrugged, curiosity piqued. "I have time."

"Well, we might as well start at the _very_ beginning. I'm (originally, I haven't been back in ages) from Naboo. It's a medium sized planet, all pretty meadows and forests. 'Course, it was discovered by down-and-out travel salesman, who ended up turning it into _the_ summer home planet for the galaxy's wealthy or famous.

"In this business boom, a few native families managed to strike it rich and form themselves into a sort of aristocracy. One of these families was mine. So anyway, on Naboo, it's considered a _major_ status symbol to have a Jedi in the family. But before I was shipped off, I'd been rather good friends with a noblewoman from one of the neighboring families. She was about my age, a little older, and so we were always running about, climbing trees together and other kid things. Her name was Padmé Ambidala, remember that, she'll be important later." Obi-wan did not add that he'd developed a bit of a childhood crush on the girl. It wasn't terribly important, at least not now.

"Anyway, the first stop for any potential Jedi (not all of them make to Master, some either die or find it too hard) is Corsucant, where the Temple is. This is entirely off the record, but I ended up making quite a favorite of myself. I was cute, talented and willing to listen, so I suppose it was natural. But anyway, it was there I met a Master by the name of Qui-Gon. He later took me on as his padawan, and we got along famously. By the time I was about ten (ish, I have to add. Birthdays weren't terribly important) Qui-Gon got into a bit of a disagreement with one of the other Masters who ran the Temple Academy. (He never _did _tell me what it was about, so I'll have to let that rest there). So he took off traveling, and took me with him." Obi-wan took a brief pause here, letting 'chapter one' in his life history close.

Mel nodded along with his telling, though she didn't understand how any of this could possibly add up. "Whatever happened to Qui-Gon? I've never heard you mention him before."

Obi-wan gave her an altogether too school-master-ly look. "Shh. I'll get to that later." He scolded, before continuing. "_Anyway_, one of our first stops was Tatooine. It's a rather unpleasant place, a giant ball of burning sand and desert. I don't see why anyone bothers living there, but they do, so it's a moot point. So we were wandering the main city, Mos Eisely, when Qui-Gon stopped to barter with one of the shop owners." Obi-wan sighed inside, reliving the moment as he had done many times.

_I was looking about, filled with a childish wide-eyed wonder at this world that was so different from my own. Qui-Gon had seemed so very tall then, and immensely wise and powerful. (_It was impossible to think the scene through anything but his own happy, childish thoughts_). I ducked behind one of the rolled up carpets, wanting to play, and stumbled upon a strange boy around my own age. The stranger had streaky-brown hair, and was rather dirty. In one hand he held a rag, and was busy polishing one of the rusty driods for sale. Only, he wasn't actually touching the rag. Rather, he was using the force, which was something I recognized at once as a good sign. People who did cool things like I could were always nice and fun to play with. "Hello!" I chirped, ever glad to meet a new friend. _

_The stranger looked at me, startled, and sent a hasty, scared-looking glance towards where the owner was still bargaining with Qui-Gon. He grabbed onto the rag, pretending that he'd never levitated it in the first place._

"_What's wrong?" I had pressed, confused. Why should this kid be afraid of me? Or was he afraid of the man over there? I could see how he might be afraid of the man, who had a pretty scary-looking face. (_Ritual disfigurement, though I did not know this (nor care) at the time

"_Nothing." The stranger blurted, before trying to duck behind one of the driods he had already worked on. _

"_Hey-" I would have said more, had Qui-Gon not appeared and placed a hand on my shoulder. _

"_Come on, we have to go." My Master's voice was light and even, and as kind as always. He never yelled at me, ever, only got more serious. This was even worse than yelling, in my opinion, as I hated the sad, disappointed look that came to his face whenever I did something wrong. _

"_But… that kid over there! Did you see him?" I squeaked eyes wide. "He could do stuff like me." Outside of the Academy, I'd never encountered another 'gifted' child._

"_Really? What did he look like?" Qui-Gon sounded interested, which was good. That (probably) meant that I'd done something right and would be rewarded later. _

"It was there I first met Anakin Skywalker. I'd been exploring, and come across him cleaning driods that were for sale. He was a slave then, the trade still being legal on Tatooine. No one _wants_ to work there, usually, so they need slaves to get any work done at all. But I digress. Qui-Gon probably would have left it at there, not wanting to get into any messy situations, but I pushed him for it. I'd felt sorry for the poor kid, naïve thing I was, and I though the idea of having a friend to study with me sounded fabulous. So we bought him off of his owner, and freed him."

"So you're saying he started out as a _slave_?" Mel interrupted, incredulous.

"Yes, I am. His mother had sold him when they'd run out of money for food when he was few years old. She got sick that winter and died, so he would have ended up on the block either way. Obviously, slaves weren't considered important enough to screen for The Force, so he'd had to hide it. It explains a lot about him now, when I think about it. Why he's so materialistic, so possessive, and why he's so power-oriented. In a way, you can't blame him for it. But again, I digress.

"Those were some of the best years of my life, I have to say. We'd become best friends, and it was _fun_ zooming around the galaxy, thinking we were somehow saving the world. But eventually Qui-Gon had to return to the Temple, and it was there things began to fall apart. We were probably fifteen, maybe a little older. Thing was, I wasn't the favorite any more, not by a long shot. He was, and there were even rumors going around about him being this 'chosen one' from a prophecy. Do you think I cared about some stupid prediction made by a man four hundred years ago? No. I cared that we were _friends_, and that we were supposed to be treated like _equals_.

"To cap it all off, Qui-Gon died about year after we'd returned to the Temple. In battle, it was, against the latest apprentice to the Sith Lord. Darth Maul was his name, and he wasn't particularly skilled, but he still managed to cut him down. We blamed it on each other, afterwards. We'd both been there, you see, and neither of us had been able to stop it.

"Thing was, by now we were too old for the Academy, still too young to be on our own, and there weren't any free Masters to take us on. We spent about a year and a half getting shunted from one to another, a few weeks here and there. Finally, not long after we turned seventeen, they gave us a choice of two solo missions (partly to 'teach us responsibility', and partly just to get us out from underfoot). I got first choice, and too this day I wish… But that doesn't matter. Anyway, the choices were either helping in the crusade against the Separatists (I'll explain that later) or guarding Senator Padmé (I told you to remember her!).

"Of course, I picked helping in the army. That was what a Jedi was supposed to do, help the helpless and defend the Republic. So Anakin was stuck with (what I thought) would be a boring soft job. He never did complain, but I didn't notice at the time (or if I did, take any notice of it).

"There we parted ways for about a year. I had an absolutely thrilling time, working myself up to the rank of General. I was traveling, fighting, and I loved it, every minute of it. See this was before the Empire was created, and it was still a Republic. It was run by the Senate, two senators per planet, and headed by Councilor Palpatine. A group of planets, outer rim ones mostly, had recently broken off and tried to create their own Republic. These were the Separatists, and that was what I had been doing, putting down their rebellion. But soon it took me back to Corsucant, and I took the chance to find out how Anakin was doing.

"Here I'll have to back track a little, and tell you some things that I didn't learn until afterwards, but are vitally important. See, before we'd gone our separate ways, we'd actually seen a rather lot of Padmé. She was in town as a Senator, and so we hung out some. It was around then that Anakin had decided he was in love with her. Of course this broke _the cardinal law_ of The Force, but by then he didn't care. He'd always been rather ambivalent towards the Code, and he'd also- There I go again, jumping ahead of myself.

"Anyway, so that was why he hadn't protested his particular job. During that year, he'd gotten her to fall in love with him as well. At least, that was what he though. I think it was more she was tired of following the rules, tired of being the 'good girl' she'd always had to be. If she was looking for excitement, what more could she ask for then to sleep with a Jedi? Of course, this is all speculation on my part. She _could_ have loved him… But either way, she ended up marrying him, some three months before I came to visit. Not long after, she told him that she was pregnant. Again, this is only speculation, but I think that she found out she was carrying his child before she married him and that was why she said yes. But I'll never know for sure, so it's a moot point.

"Not long after, Anakin started having dreams of her dying in childbirth. He'd had premonitions in dreams before this, and they'd always been right before, so he assumed these were. But instead of accepting this, and preparing to move on (_as is the Jedi way_) he sought a way to keep her from dying. You can guess where this lead to."

"The Dark Side." Mel breathed, wrapped up in the moment but still sparing a sympathetic thought to the poor, unfortunate Obi-wan.

"Yes. The Dark Side. As it turns out, the Separatists were headed by Darth Sidious, who'd always managed to stay one step ahead of us. We had thought that he'd simply had good informants… when in reality, the reason was that he was in the Senate himself! In fact, it was Councilor Palpatine who had moonlighted as the Sith Lord. He approached Anakin, promising him a way to keep Padmé from dying. _And he took it_." Obi-wan bit his lip, biting back the emotion that had nearly managed to swamp him. "I had been there for this, though I obviously had no idea… Even if I had known what was going on, what was about to happen, what could I have done?" he swallowed, then continued anew, though his voice was not as steady as it had started out. "So one night I had been over at Padmé's, when the news came. There had been a massive rebellion, everywhere, with the troops turning on their commanders. Sidious was behind it, as it had been him who had had the clones (wait, you didn't know that was what the storm troopers were? Well, they're all clones. Now you do know) made in the first place." Again Obi-wan was forced to pause, to gain control of himself. There was no need for Mel to see him break down, for her he had to be strong. "Almost every Jedi in the galaxy was killed that night, shot in the back, victims of their own patrols. And do you know who led the troops on the Temple itself? Who had, not hours before, murdered the head of the Order? Who _personally_ made sure that none of the _children,_ some as young as four, in the Academy made it out alive? Anakin Skywalker, former Jedi. It was that night he'd gone over, so blinded by his good intentions that he thought he'd single-handedly brought **_peace_** to the Republic! Who thought he was making it safer.

"It was the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen, to have seen Padmé's face when they brought her the news. That's when I understood whom the father of her child was. It would be impossible to describe my actual feelings at this moment, so I won't try. Anger, disappointment, betrayal, and even a heavy dose of guilt. (Again, I digress). Of course, by the time it reached us, the news was some few hours old. I knew that Padmé knew where Anakin was, as he would have stopped by for a kiss before leaving. (The idea of him holding her, and their unborn child, after murdering at least a score of children at the Temple, sickens me). Yet, even after knowing what he had done, what he was probably out to do, she refused to tell me. She defended him, stubbornly, to the end. Of course, she knew why I wanted to know… why I had to know. And it was so very simple. I had to find my former best friend, whom I had loved, and kill him.

"I ended up having to stowaway in her own personal craft to find out where she was going. It was Mustafar, which was rather fitting. Mustafar is as close to hell as you can go and live to tell the tale. Entirely volcanic, it's a volatile place where the only rain is that of lava and ash. It was also a Separatist center, where Anakin had been sent by the Emperor (as he was by then, as the Senate had **_voted_** him extra power) to eliminate the leaders." It was here that Obi-wan trailed off, eyes glazed. It was such a strong, potent memory that there was nothing he could do about it.

_I was standing there, not quite in the doorway, listening to them. Padmé, oh beautiful Padmé, had gone running out to meet him. But he was not happy with her, nor she with him. And how could she be?_

"_What do you **mean** you can't take this? I did it all for you! I did this all to save **you**!" He was angry, it was obvious. And his eye color had changed now; I could see it clearly from where I stood. Gone was the blue, replaced by a freakish, unnatural swirl. Can't Padmé see that it's pointless? That he's gone mad?_

"_Anakin, what you've done is wrong! How could you have done that?" She still sounded in disbelief that he could have changed so very fast. She was holding her hands out to him, pleading, as he pushed her away. _

_I moved to the doorway, wanting to keep her from being hurt. But my appearance made things worse. _

"_You brought him with you?" Anakin snarled, furious. "You brought him here to kill me?" _

"_No, I-" She tried to protest, but he had shoved her to the side and advanced upon me. _

"_She had nothing to do with bringing me here." I asserted, drawing my saber. There was no need to get her into more trouble. _

"_But you are here to kill me, aren't you, Obi-wan?" He replied, tone vicious and so strikingly alien with how he had addressed me at breakfast that very morning. _

"_Yes I am, and it's more than you deserve!" I wish I had not been so very dramatic, but it is the way I am. _

_The fight that ensued was amazing. We were so very evenly matched that it seemed to go on forever. Through rooms, on stairways, over platforms that spanned dizzying stretches of molten rock we fought, neither gaining any advantage over the other. Until we ended where we had begun, an exhaustingly pointless loop of fear and anger. _

_It was here that I very nearly succeeded (if it was success was what it could have been called) in getting him. But he was fast, and instead I left that scar through his eyebrow. He reciprocated, and I lost my balance. _

_This looked as though it could have been the end for me. I was down, actually lying on the ground, and he was laughing as he dropped that lethal laser lower… _

_In the chaos we had both entirely forgotten about Padmé. But she had not forgotten us… Screaming my name, sounding so utterly doomed, she threw herself in front of me._

_And took what would have been a mortal blow. Anakin drew back, horrified. He still loved her, he thought, and would not have harmed her…At least, until she tried to give her life for me. For **me**, the last Jedi alive, and his (now) sworn enemy. With a harsh cry that was half a yell of rage and half a sob, he ran her through again. _

"Padmé had obviously gotten to him first, and they were arguing. She did not like what he had become, and he felt betrayed. After all, he had done it for her. I showed myself, trying to keep him from hurting her…

"And so we fought. It would have lasted something of a lifetime had I not tripped. He could have killed me then and there, and was about to. But Padmé threw herself in front, and took the blow. He had tried to draw back, at the last second when he saw who it was, so she could have lived. But she'd given her life, not for him, but for the one come to kill him, and so he ran her through." There was a silence, as Obi-wan tried to ignore that his voice had cracked. "Twice."

"Twice?" Mel gasped, sounding utterly incredulous. "But I thought he loved her."

"So did I." Obi-wan sighed, looking for once utterly defeated. "I honestly had thought that he'd loved her. But then…" He bit at his lip again, turning his head away, fighting back the slew of emotions that always flooded him when he thought of that day. "He never was particularly stable. She just… broke him." There was another breath of a pause. "You should have seen it. Blood everywhere… we were both beyond angry, tears in our eyes… We would have ended up just tearing each other apart, if _he_ hadn't shown up…" For the first time, Obi-wan's voice held clear hatred.

"Who?" Why won't he just get _on_ with it?

"The Emperor himself. With an entire contingent of troopers, armed to the teeth." The momentary hate had left his voice, leaving something more listlessly resigned. "And before we knew it, we were surrounded and commanded to surrender."

_They had come out of nowhere, it had seemed to me. More likely, I was too distraught and wrapped in my own thoughts to notice anything else. _

_Anakin (but he was not! Anakin had been my friend, my brother, and this was not he. Anakin was dead. But as of yet, I had no other name) did not look happy either. His face was streaked with blood and sweat and (tears? No) his weird eyes unreadable. But he glared at the white plastic clones ringing him, even sending a look of intense resentment towards the Emperor himself (making sure the back was turned first). He did yield, eventually, though when his eyes met mine they spoke murder. I knew what he was thinking- that I had turned his Padmé against him, and that he hated me. But I hated him also, in that moment, more than I have ever hated another before. _

"Apparently there had been a few Jedi, two or three perhaps, that had managed to escape and seek refuge with the Separatists (the Resistance, now). Had they not needed an informant of sorts, someone who knew how a Jedi thought, I would simply have been handed back to Anakin. But instead I was offered a choice (that wasn't any choice at all). Aid the Empire in subduing the rebellions, or die." He paused again, unsure of how to phrase what he was about to say. "For a moment there, I nearly chose death. It seemed preferable to living my life without any of my friends, dealing daily with _him_? But it was the blood on his face that convinced me. I would be no use to anyone, unable to help save my Republic dead. So I agreed, and here I am."

Mel blinked at him, still processing all that he had said, his life history as a tormented monologue. "That's horrible." Was all she could think of to say. It was true, certainly. Would she have been strong enough to choose the life of hell over death? _Was_ it stronger to choose life?

He nodded at her, feeling the effects of this catharsis. He'd never had anyone to tell, as who (who was not there) would have cared? But she'd listened, sympathized, and looked as though she had understood… and for that, he was eternally grateful. This silence, unlike the frequent others that had been full of meaningful, churning thought, was simple, comfortable, comradely.


	30. Chapter 30: Say You Will

Mel broke it the silence this time, though hesitantly. It had been a good silence, one that had made her _almost_ his equal (or that he thought her so). That was something she was going to remember for a long time, as it meant loads. She did not idolize him, exactly, but he was everything she hoped to be. "Shouldn't we… tell her this? Before…"

"Tell her he killed his last lover? Before she gets in too deep?" He asked, and she nodded in response. "**_No_**, god no." This last sentence was a half-yell, startling her.

She recoiled slightly, as that was the harshest tone of voice he had ever used with her.

He did not apologize, though perhaps he should have. For a moment, he could have sworn she'd looked afraid… "That's the worst thing you could do right now. It's one thing, if she thinks she can save him and you show her he can't be saved. But to bring this up… all you'll give her is pain. She might not even believe you. Its no secret you dislike him, don't like the idea of her with him. She'll think you're jealous… Besides, do you really want to see what comes to her face at that news? For all you know, she'll side with him. She might even be happy, after all if Padmé were alive she wouldn't have him. Could you live with that? She has to know he's a murderer by now, and she's made her peace with that. Do you want to know on what terms?" He sighed, and looked at her sadly. "I know this is hard for you. But you have to just let it go. You can't do anything from here on out except for make things worse, and I know it sucks." She moved to say something, and he cut her off. He wasn't finished monologuing. "They say that a bad love is the worst thing in the world. I disagree, its having to watch a bad love run its course, having to hold your tongue as someone you love self-destructs… I'll tell you this though. I'm not entirely convinced there is a God. But I'm damn certain there's a hell." His twisted half-smile seemed bitter, and self-pitying. He'd run the gamut in sale emotion for her, ripped scabs off some old wounds and let them bleed for her inspection, and all that was felt was a resigned emptiness. "All you can do is try not to dwell on how little you know, how little difference you can make… or else you'll go mad." His smile regained a touch of the usual Obi-wan. "But in your case, that's not much of problem, is it?"

She laughed a little, more than that quip deserved, because it was a welcome relief from the seriousness. They would not talk of this again, not for some time, but she would not forget. Rather, she would think it over, and watch her friend. Watch, and wait.

- - -

_Mm_. Was Katie's first coherent thought, followed by _Oh_. _Oh,_ indeed. It was the oddest feeling, to realize she'd done something that was so wrong, on so many levels, but she'd enjoyed doing so much… Leaning over the side of the bed, she expected to find her clothing strewn across the floor. But Anakin (whose side of the bed was still warm) had rather thoughtfully folded them into a neat pile.

Dressing, she felt better then she had for a long stretch of mornings. There was a pleasant ache to her midsection, and for the first time in a long while, she hadn't woken upto that dreadful paradox. Something she needed, that she wasn't _supposed_ to need, and she wasn't supposed to ask for. But that was over now, for better or for worse. _For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health_. She added in her mind, with a bit of a smile to herself.

She found him in the other room, (_waiting for her?_) eating what looked like lunch. Had she really slept that long? _Of course_, she added blushing mentally; _they hadn't exactly gotten to sleep very early, had they?_

He smiled at her. It was a peculiar smile, soft but satisfied, protecting but possessive, almost prideful, something of a conquest in there… it was very much the morning-after smile, and it spoke volumes more than he would ever have put into words. But there was no mercy in those eyes, however gently they looked her over, none at all. And the thought that she could, and did, like it sent some not-so unwelcome shivers down her back.

It was difficult, sitting there and watching him, not to find herself falling in love with him all over again. The way he moved, he talked, even the way he looked at her… She tried to convince herself that it was all afterglow, newly found hormones talking… all the same, when he held out his arms to hold her, she nearly swooned.

He could not deny a similar feeling, though hardly to that extent. He'd had plenty of time to love her before he'd told her, and so watching her was nothing new. Though he did find himself wondering how he'd ever gotten her to come to him…

Arms about her waist, mouth where her neck met her collarbone, he could not deny that it would have been a highly satisfying forever. "Thank you," he murmured instead, not in the habit of emotional confessions of any sort.

She arched her back against him, in the throes of a highly delightful shiver. "For what?"

"The best night I've had in a _long_ time."


	31. Chapter 31: Sparks Of The Tempest

Terryal sat down (the very act of sitting in their presence a bad sign in and of itself, one they should have caught) across from Vader and Obi-wan. Neither really paid any but the most perfunctory attention to him, they were too busy looking daggers at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. Obi-wan had counseled against going after Katie… but he saw nothing wrong in going straight to the source.

"What is it, Terryal?" Vader snapped.

"Really, do get on with it." Obi-wan added.

"I was in the middle of something important." They finished together, nearly in unison. Old habits and this was such a very old one, died so very hard.

Terryal tented his fingers, resisting the urge to heave a heavy sigh. It was times such as this when he remembered that neither of them were far out of their teens (he, being in his mid-twenties, could afford to be high and mighty), and still held control of most of the known universe. It was a sobering thought, and one that would have kept him up nights, had he needed sleep at all. Besides, when that 'something important' was fighting over the ethics of letting a girl (who really wasn't worth the fuss, in his opinion) do what she wanted to do; it didn't make one optimistic as to the fate of the world. But then, he'd never cared much for politics anyway. "The Emperor has left a missive demanding your presence at the talks in Alderraan."

"Alderraan?" It was funny how fast the mood in the room had changed, from animosity towards each other to animosity towards the messenger. Vader was scowling, as he'd never liked Alderraan itself, and liked being ordered about (even by his superior) even less.

Obi-wan's distaste was silent, but equally pronounced. Any news dealing with Alderraan was bad news. "Which one?"

"Alderraan Five." The tension deflated some. Alderraan Six had been a disaster of the ninth degree.

Alderraan was a fairly central system, but was also fairly isolated as far as neighbors went. There were nine planets total in the system, numbered accordingly, none particularly noteworthy in any way. Seven, eight and nine, (the outermost) had been rather peacefully incorporated into the Empire, but the success had been on paper only. Alderraan was a funny place. It was never cold but _very_ cold, never warm but _very_ warm, never bad but _very_ bad, and never wonderful but _very_ wonderful. It was a place of conflicting extremes, the atmosphere of muddled utopia and dystopia spiraling everything out of proportion, and out of control. One, two, three and four were confirmed Resistance beds, and with Six out of the question, the Empire needed Five to keep control of the system itself. Alderraan then have been the only entirely Resistance system, which would have been a rather difficult situation for all involved (not to mention a PR disaster).

But of course, with the Emperor involved, they could do nothing but start charting a new course. Terryal understood this, as often just agreeing and getting out of the way was the best method of keeping your head attached to your shoulders. But had any of them an inkling of the disaster awaiting them… they would have raised more of a fuss. Of course, they didn't have a clue.

Obi-wan stood first. "If that's all **this** was about, I'm leaving." However he paused at the door (and out of reach), to send a parting shot. "Because some of us have more important things to do with our students instead of sleeping with them." He had been feeling a masochistic, and it was always fun (and much too easy for his own good) to get under Vader's skin. Grinning, and with a little wave, Obi-wan ducked out and (not quite _dashing_) escaped unscathed.

- - -

Katie was rather dreading having to spend the hour or more of their lesson with Obi-wan. Even with Mel in attendance, she was still likely to find herself embarrassed, even angry, but without any way to retaliate. He was _Obi-wan_, after all. As it was, she was correct.

"I figured you were a little bored of the usual lectures, so I thought we'd discuss something… different. Something that might be of interest." He grinned. It was a very bad sign. "Namely, the heredity of The Force."

Katie resisted the urge to keel over and plop her head on the table. She hated being right.

Mel, watching her friend, covered a smile with her hand. Besides the amusement factor, it was nice to see her Master looking a little more perky. He'd been pretty down ever since their talk… but then again, this probably wasn't a good thing, at least as far as any of their prides went.

"Now, The Force is a rather funny thing. It doesn't follow most of the rules, but then, that's not as surprising at sounds. Generally its recessive, but even when it is present, it doesn't manifest itself very strongly. So you can have someone who technically is possessed of the force but has it so weak that they're really only a carrier. It also very uncommon, at least in its stronger variations, considering the sheer volume of people that could be tested for it. It's also very uneven. A majority of those who do have it are male, yet the percentage of _carriers_ leans towards women. A Carrier, by the way, is someone who can pass the trait to his or her children, but has none of the benefits themselves. But even so, the few females who are possessed of The Force tend to have it very strongly, whereas there are plenty of gifted men in circuses levitating balls. Not only is it unequal among the sexes, but among different species. Humans tend to be the most common, whereas someone like a…" He searched for an example. "an Acjikal." The word came out like sneeze. "(Terryal, by the way). They've never had even remotely gifted children."

"What _is_ an… whatever it was you said?" Mel inquired.

"Terryal, like I said. From Alderraan Six. Very funny things. Aquatic, as you might have guessed. They're vaguely radioactive, glow in the dark (they usually live in caves) and actually 'feed off' of electric waves, so they don't need to sleep. Very peculiar place, Alderraan Six. Anyway…" He changed the subject back to his monologue. "It also has a tendency to run in bloodlines, which is funny when you consider that there were only ever a very few Jedi that broke rules and children of their own." He emphasized 'broke the rules'. "It was once estimated that half of the population is force-less, one fourth is a carrier and the other fourth is resistant. Yes, you can be resistant to the Force. Not in the sense of someone using it against you, but there are kinds of people that can dilute an entire bloodline. And sometimes it can just pop up spontaneously, without anyone in the family carrying. But… let's see if I can think of an example. Now, Mel, let's use your family. You don't happen to have any… odd relatives, do you? Someone in an asylum, maybe?"

Mel looked at him, puzzled. "No, not that I know of. Why?"

"Because, given that your home was static, minor manifestations can be confused with forms of mental illness. Or, sometimes, as some sort of psychic power (which is basically the truth, but often isn't received well). Seeing things before they happen, making things move, prophetic dreams…I'm sure you understand. However, without any better knowledge of your family, I'd have to say you are the latter type. But then again, most static 'discoveries' are like that."

Obi-wan's grin widened, as he'd come to the part that he'd bothered having this discussion for. "Now, lets work in the other direction. If… say…" He paused for a moment, acting like he was searching for an example "If Vader and Katie were to have children…"

Katie plopped her head down on the table for real this time, mentally blocking out the rest of the 'discussion'. That had been just much too low… But then again, perhaps she deserved it.


	32. Chapter 32: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Mel was standing in her room, fixing her hair after it had gone all mussed during saber (not because she was vain, or at least not mostly, more because it was irritating when it was in her face) when she realized something. It was something that she should have noticed before, but had not, for whatever reasons of her own.

Katie's things were gone. It hadn't been sudden, no not at all, but had more of a gradual fade from the room as she took up residence in another. Mel found it a shock to have to room to herself, a glaring sign of her friend's shifting alliances and a reminder that Mel was, for the most part, alone.

It wasn't really anything major, though it had taken Mel several nights to get used to the silence, just as it had taken her a few in the very beginning to get used to sleeping with another in the room. But it was depressing in its own way, as it pointed out, in flashing neon, how little of an influence she'd really had. This was blow, not because Mel was controlling, but because she had always been a leader. Her little flock of friends had followed her, willingly, and she'd always been careful with them and her damn charisma. Apparently, she needn't have bothered.

- - -

Katie folded the last shirt, before stepping back to survey her work. All her worldly possessions were there, what little that actually amounted too, in half of someone else's wardrobe. It was a milestone of sorts, though it stuck unpleasantly in the back of her mind for some reason.

The second night had been hardest, she'd found. She knew the sayings were about the first step being the hardest, but she'd always thought it the second. After the first step there is still a sense of denial, a sense that one can opt out without feeling some sort of responsibility. It is the second step that commits you to action, and after that it's all downhill.

Or so she'd found. Anakin hadn't seemed particularly concerned that she'd change her mind.

- - -

Mel ducked and whirled, coming on fast. Katie had been behind her, partially in the air, when there was a massive bump. It was nothing like the lurches of before, but it was still unsettling.

Thrown off course, Katie nearly lost her footing, almost falling off the platform. "What the hell was that?"

"That? Oh." Obi-wan looked mildly puzzled, though partially amused. He usually was. "You didn't know? We're making a refueling stop before Alderraan."

"Then where are we?" Mel asked, as though the planet name would actually mean something to her.

"Myelin. It's a small, unimportant sort of only planet, only important when you need it. You'd think of it as a gas station next to the highway," Obi-wan clarified, proving once and again that he'd done some _very _thorough research of their planet.

"So how long'll we be here then?" Katie asked.

"Not very long. It'll take a few hours to restock, and there'll probably be some sort of pointless audience where we pretend to actually care about what goes on here." He answered sardonically, though he turned out to be right.

Obviously, there wasn't any way to make this a formal occasion had it needed to be one, Mel's dress still a pile of red bits of fabric. It would have made a lovely batch of confetti, had they needed it, but other than that it was useless.

The Myelin people were not particularly demanding, content with a brief appearance of everyone who counted (Katie and Mel included, surprisingly enough) on some sort of balcony and a few words spoken.

Katie found it rather pointless, standing there tying to look impressive while trying not to yawn. She also couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved as well, as the Anakin she was flanking (and trying to look at impartially) was appearing as Darth Vader, in full costume. Now he was even taller than usual, voice deeper, and it was really sort of creepy thinking of her lover as some sort of robot.

So Katie was spacing out, looking off over the crowd to her right, wondering what sort of people they were when she saw it. 'It' was a figure, most likely a man, in the back of the crowd. He would have been entirely unremarkable had he not been holding (what looked like to her) a high-powered rifle.

Without sparing a moment to think, as she watched the trigger finger begin its long, fateful pull back, she _launched_ herself sideways, slamming into Anakin.

He was caught off balance and fell over, as utterly surprised as everyone else when some sort of dart/bullet/flash of laser went flying over where he had been moments before. Obi-wan, also caught off guard, felt the something part his hair as it whizzed by his ear. The crowd reacted rather more quickly than anyone else had, trapping the unsuccessful assassin before he could escape. But whether they had knowingly let him there in the first place? Well, no one ever knew for sure.

In the ensuing rush of people hurrying this way and that, issuing apologies here and investigating there, Katie couldn't help but feel slightly forgotten. He hadn't even had a chance to say anything to her before being whisked off to check for injuries, and she was afraid to look at either Mel or Obi-wan in case they were angry with her for saving his life. He managed later on to sneak her a quick kiss in the hall, but it was very late into the night before the hullabaloo subsided, and she was left sleeping in his bed alone. It was, altogether, a rather unsatisfactory affair.

She would have thought it even more unsatisfactory had she realized how very interested in her the Resistance was now. She'd proved herself yet one more obstacle in the route to freeing the galaxy, and so, she would have to go.


	33. Chapter 33: Relentless

For all the talk, for all the hype, and for all the worry, Alderraan was nothing like Mel had pictured it. Of course, she hadn't seen much, just glimpses of heavy forest and impossibly blue sea, edged with silver sands. It looked rather nice, a sort of tropical-island planet, which was basically what it was. A series of large islands (they reminded Mel of Australia), separated by a beautifully fickle ocean. It was also quite warm, though not oppressively, and the steady (creepily, almost) trade winds kept things bearable.

For the first time they would not actually be keeping residence in the ship, and would instead be installed in the palace (for that was really what it was) of this particular Island's governor. It was also the official headquarters for the annexation negotiations. This meant that there was also a small party of officials (not of very high rank, but high enough to warrant consideration, as they were directly from the Emperor himself) in residence as well.

The building was all cool marble and stone, thick walls pierced with many large, glassless windows. Stairways were wide and low, and there were few ordinary doors and many windows that reached to the floor. It seemed to be customary to go mostly barefoot, as one was tracking sand anyway, and besides, the floors were the coolest things indoors.

Mel rather liked her room, a smaller one off of the grander hall. They were all on the second floor, hers two doors down from her Masters (he had attempted to get one with a connecting door, but propriety had intervened). The bed, like the stairs, was low to the ground, but was draped with many layers of flowing light fabrics, in pastels of blue and green. The chiseled stone posts of the bed were draped with curtains of the same, and the entire effect was rather an island-princess one. Of course, the room was a double, in keeping with the fiction that Katie wasn't playing student in the bedroom as well.

But she didn't have much time to really think about this, as they were whisked off for another dress fitting. If Mel had cared enough about hers to take a razor to it then it made no sense to give her another, and the two of them had to coordinate. Besides, it was the Empire's tab, and that was a very large tab indeed.

As the shady, faceless entity that planned such things, "they" had already forwarded both of the girls' sizes, and so everything should be, would be, perfect, but one must have one's formalities.

The dresses were strapless again, though this time the bodice section of the dress was an honest-to-god corset, complete with what looked like whale boning. The fabric was light, loose and flowing, floor-length, and the slips were satin, strapless, knee-length and rather more like lingerie than anything. Katie's, or the one she claimed as hers, was a dark, almost-black green at the bottom hem and faded to a seafoam about the neckline, and Mel's was the reverse, as usual. Katie's laces, which Mel was tying rather ruthlessly tight, were a dark green ribbon to contrast, Mel's (which Katie did not tie quite as tight, or pull on as hard) a seafoam.

They were behind a folded cloth screen, that fabric thick enough for modesty, as they would be modeling for their Masters.

There were two chairs also in the smallish room, but Obi-wan was occupying both, sitting in one with his feet propped up on the other. Which was just as well, Anakin would not have used his anyway, preferring to pace about or to lean against the wall.

Obi-wan had just turned about to say something witty when the girls emerged. So instead he choked on his scone, and tried to avoid Mel's eyes as he pretended he hadn't.

It was just that he'd finally gotten almost-comfortable thinking of her as an almost-friend, and thus had completely forgotten she was female. But in that wasp-waisted dress, curves of her hips and chest accentuated, outline of her thighs clearly visible in the clingy cloth… He felt much the way he imagined fathers must, upon coming home to realize that their little girls were not so little, and were in fact Women, ones that they might have been attracted too had their not been a relation. It was a blow, he had to admit, though not an _entirely_ unpleasant one. He did hide it well, of course, so Mel had no or very little inkling of what was going through his mind. But then again, when had she?

Anakin was circling Katie, who looked vaguely uncomfortable, much the way an animal would a potential mate. He liked the way she looked in it, thought it made her positively beautiful, though he was not enjoying the concept of having to field off any prospective paramours, will trying to act (mostly) like he didn't have any romantic attachments to her. He'd been considering simply stopping the charade, after all, she'd already saved his life, so its not like the Resistance wasn't already interested in her. But it wasn't so much the Resistance he was worried about, though he was, than it was the _Emperor's_ opinion he was wary of. All that vanished from his mind as she smiled uncertainly at him, biting her lip as she fiddled with a stray lock of hair. Softening his expression, he reassured her. "You look lovely." She brightened some, smile gaining some confidence, and he ached to _really_ touch her, wanting to rid her face of that insecurity.

The girls gathered up their stray bits of clothing, and the group began its slow and pointless way to their room. The dresses were to be stored there, until the formal dinner that evening, and until then their time was their own.

Mel was looking forward to hanging out with Obi-wan, though he never would have used such a vulgar term. He'd said he had some new move to show her, and she was _still_ determined, as ludicrous as it probably was, to get the best of him someday. Hopefully, some day soon. As preoccupied with her thoughts as she was, she still managed to note that Katie had not followed her into the room. But this was hardly a surprise, and so Mel went back to her musings.

Katie had been intending to continue the charade, to let Mel unlace her before leaving, but she'd been distracted.

She'd been standing at the doorway, pausing for a second, and Anakin had her arm, pulling her off to the side. He kissed her before she had a chance to be really puzzled, and it was as much of an introduction as they ever seemed to need.

"But," She began, once she had her mouth back. "Shouldn't I go put the dress-"

He grinned at her, cutting her off, forehead against hers and eyes nearly locked into hers. One hand was at the base of her neck, entwined in her hair, and the other was at her back, looped through her laces. "_I want to practice taking it off_," He murmured more than suggestively, giving a light tug to the bow at her back, before gliding off down the hall (with a particularly impressive swirl of his cloak).

Katie made a small, giddy-sort of hiccup to the empty space, entirely blown away. As much as she tried to convince herself she was a "modern woman" and capable of being herself, it was _impossible_ not to melt when he looked at her the way he did…

- - -

Katie frowned at the mirror, tugging fretfully at her hair. It was something of an emotional one-eighty, but then, she tended towards those sorts of violent ups and downs anyway. Not that she was really 'down'… more on the _edge_ of down. It was born mostly of sheer frustration, thought it was the sort of frustration that festered in her mind, growing out of a single incident to something indicative of apocalypse. And it tended to carry with it strains of self-pity, frustration with _herself_, helplessness, and the paradoxical assertion that she did not deserve those around her, that they were only pretending, and that she similarly was so put-upon that they did not deserve _her_.

But was it Mel who had prompted this swirl of conflicting emotion? No. In fact, Katie (lately) had seemed barely cognizant of the fact that Mel even existed. Rather, it was Anakin.

She supposed that someone with a penchant for moralizing would have lectured her on these feelings, on how they were (obviously!) the result of rushing into amoral premarital sex. She doubted that the cause could be so quickly and certainly pointed to, though she did think they would have had a point. It was just that she was feeling ignored, rather blatantly so, and it irritated her.

He'd simply been so very _physically_ affectionate lately, that everything else (in comparison) seemed so very lacking. At least, before, he'd had to actually _talk_ to her to convince her he loved her, and she'd had more of a sense of it. But now that she seemed an almost guaranteed thing, he'd gotten complacent. She existed only when it was convenient, or so it felt, and it hurt. But then, whenever she tried to actually analyze him, he managed to act the way she wanted him to! And yet, this sense of being used continued. If anything, the confusion was worse.

Tossing down her brush in exasperation, she began putting her dress back on (she'd been lounging about in the slip, not seeing the point of putting on clothes for just an hour, and not wanting to risk getting her dress dirty during that hour).

Of course, she ran into the obvious problem. How to lace herself up, unable to reach most of the ties and unable to see any of them? Frowning deeper, she concentrated. Obediently the ribbons began threading themselves into the correct hole (or, more accurately, trying to). She was having a hard time coming up with a mental picture of the area, and was also unable to pull them tight enough anyway. Sighing in frustration, she pulled them out. "Damn thing," she muttered. "Why couldn't the laces be in front?" Sighing again, she took the only other option. "Anakin… I need help!"

"Can you pull them any tighter?" She asked some time later, though rather patiently. It was probably a good sign that he was having slight difficulties choking her to her specifications, though she didn't see it at the time.

"Masochist." He replied with a straight face, though he did comply. She didn't talk again, probably more from a lack of breath, until he'd finished tying the rather artful bow at the top.

She moved to rise from the chair, and he put a hand on her shoulder. "Hold still for a moment and close your eyes."

She obliged, wondering what sort of surprise it was going to be… It was entirely out of form, and she couldn't help the vague feeling of suspicion (it was probably her 'inner Mel' rebelling). But she liked surprises, and thought that this might be a rather pleasant one.

Katie heard the sound of his footsteps coming back from somewhere behind her, as whatever it was had been in another room, and snapped her eyes closed. She had been peeking, of course.

Drawing in a breath in suspense, she felt him lift her hair out of the way, draping something (which banged against her collarbone lightly before sliding its cold way down further) around her neck.

"You can open your eyes now." He sounded inordinately pleased with himself, as though it had been ages since he'd given someone a present, or as if this was a particularly good one.

Katie did, and found herself utterly at loss for words. It was a necklace, as anyone would have deducted, but it was a _diamond_ necklace. This would have been enough to knock her socks off anyway, had it not been the most beautiful stone she'd ever seen.

The size of a half-dollar, it was disk-shaped and thin enough to be moderately translucent had it not held a sunburst of a pattern in the center, spanning out to the edges, giving an illusion of even greater size and brilliance. Words themselves barely did it justice, and a very small, mercenary part of her could not help but point out that this, yes _this_, was the advantage to having a lover who nearly ruled the universe.

"Oh my god," she finally choked out. "Its beautiful."

He merely grinned possessively at her. The diamond may have been gorgeous, but it was even more the lovelier for hanging around her neck. He'd gotten the chain (platinum, though she hadn't noticed) length exactly right, and the gem flashed its fire scant millimeters from her breasts.

Giving her a quick kiss, he got up to leave, having other things to do before the dinner started. She sat there for several more moments, dumbstruck; hardly comprehending the fact that such a jewel existed much less was _hers_. So it took quite a long while for the small, bad-aftertaste sort of feeling to sink in, with the sense of having been bought and paid for. A very long while, as it were.


	34. Chapter 34: No Room For A Stranger

Mel found the dinner itself rather unremarkable, but that had practically become the routine. The food itself was good, mostly unfamiliar fruits and fish, and the native officials were almost boringly polite. Later on she'd regret the thought, but for now it left her with a wandering mind.

Obi-wan did not seem any more amused than she did. He seemed vaguely tense, uncommonly serious and not particularly interested in anything that was going on. He didn't have a _reason_ for it, he was just uncomfortable. It probably had something to with the disaster last time he'd been on an Alderraan, or perhaps it was only him. Either way, he was waiting for something to happen, and hoped he'd be disappointed. But he was trying to hide all this entirely pointless brooding, if only for his padawan's sake. She seemed fairly happy, and there was no need to drag her down.

The drinks were good enough, and he passed her another one as they stood off to the sidelines, wallflowers by choice. "What are we doing here, exactly?" Mel inquired, taking the glass, looking somewhat puzzled.

"Trying to impress them with how much we value their cooperation, as well as giving them a sense as to whom they'll be dealing with if they try to resist." He replied, watching the rather colorful floor as dresses whirled round and round like so many paper flowers. "All this 'gesture of goodwill' is bull."

"Ah." She understood, or at least she understood as much as she had been told. Obviously, she also understood that there was plenty she wasn't being told, and probably never would be. It would be difficult for anyone with a modicum of intelligence to realize this, she thought, though it could simply have been her being cynical. It was trait she'd been affecting more and more often lately, and probably a symptom of talking with Obi-wan for too-long periods of time.

They stood there in their customary, comradely silence, not needing anything to talk about. He broke the silence first, as his gaze caught on something like silk on a splinter. "Would you look at that." His tone was as impartial as he could muster, though there was a hint (apparent only to the skilled listener) of a sort of dark amusement.

"Oh!" Mel sounded more surprised than anything, and more than a little uncertain. "Should we do anything? Tell someone?" Not just any 'someone'…

"I think it might be wise to point that out. But its up to you." He replied evenly, leaving the burden to his student. "She'd never believe me anyway." It was sadly true.

Mel sighed heavily, biting her lower lip gently. Telling and being yelled at was better than being yelled at for _not_ telling, she figured, and in the end, whatever happened really wasn't her fault…. Or so she liked to think.

"Hey, Katie," Mel commented lightly, wandering over to where her friend was leaning against a dessert table alone. Her tone was deceptively light, as they'd barely spoken to each other much over the last few days.

"Yes?" Katie asked, looking mildly interested. Whatever Mel had to say had to be more interesting than watching people she didn't know dance dances she didn't understand to music she didn't like. Unfortunately, she was right on this account, right in a big way.

"Where's… Vader? I mean, you two split off… Just…" Mel sighed in frustration. "You just might want to find him, all right?" Before Katie could ask any potentially awkward questions, Mel slunk off.

And Katie was mighty confused. She and Anakin had gone separate ways, yes, but that had been fine with her. Pretending impartial conversation was just too hard to really be worth it, in her opinion. But, for better or worse, she trusted Mel.

Looking around her, she found something to her far left that stuck her feet to the floor, much the how his kisses did, though in an entirely different way.

It was Anakin all right, but he was- was dancing the right word? It seemed much to close, too intimate, to be just dancing- with some **Other Woman**, this _whore_, who was in some dress slit up to the hipbone!

Katie saw red, understanding for the first time the meaning of this idiom as the scarlet-wearing trollop ground against _her_ man, heedless of any shred of decency. And it wasn't like he was trying to push her away either! He was enjoying it all right, Katie knew that heated, wanting stare as it had often been turned upon her, but could barely recognize it as it blazed across the face and neck of _someone else_…

Standing there struck dumb and giving the back of his head her very best Death Glare, Katie realized that she could have cheerfully killed them both. How _dare _he? Its not like he'd even waited for her to be out of the room before finding another… what if she hadn't noticed by the end of the night? Would she have walked in on them? It was a thought not worth contemplating.

The worst part was knowing that if she concentrated hard enough was angry enough, she could have hurt him from where she stood… But he finally noticed the eyes boring holes into the back of his head, and turned to her, before she had to go there.

It would have been almost comical to see the look of absolute surprise upon his face, as though he'd entirely forgotten that Katie even existed and therefore would not pick up on the two-timing.

Letting him feel the brunt of her damning stare, she gave a small, half-sob half-moan, before turning and nearly running for the door. She couldn't stay with him tonight, oh no, and Mel would be even worse… as now she had reason to gloat, didn't she? So Katie would be sleeping outside. It was certainly warm enough…

Grabbing the first cloak her hands came too (Obi-wan's, though she neither noticed nor cared) she dashed outside, ignoring his calls to stop as he came after her.

The sun had set and the sand was cool, and the ocean a magnificent cobalt. It would have been nearly romantic…

He did not bother trying to convince her he could explain, as he could not, pleading instead for her to at least talk to him. But she ignored him entirely, making her way further down the beach. Frowning at her retreating back, nearly annoyed with _her_, he called out a last time. "Stop, will you?"

She would have ignored him, reaching a small raised roll of sand, when the muscles in the back of her legs spasmed and froze. For a split second her anger was driven through with fear, as she realized he'd gone and used The Force on her. It only hurt his cause further, even as the stiffness dissolved from her limbs, as he caught up with her.

Facing him, wind in her hair and fire in her eyes, she ignored wetness threatening to spill down her cheeks, "Get away from me," she snapped, words like a slap in the face.

"I love you!" He protested, looking wounded, as though she was the irrational one. "Won't you listen to me?" He was also unused to dissent, least of all from her, and he didn't like it.

"Why should I?" she countered, voice quavering disgustingly.

"Because I love you," he repeated, catching her eyes forcibly and holding them. "I'm sorry, and I'd like to make it up…"

For a single wild, delirious moment, she found herself about to laugh. He got caught, and was now trying to worm his way back into her good graces (and hopefully her pants) with empty 'sorrys'. Well, weak as she may have been for ever loving him (and still doing so) in the first place, she wasn't weak enough to give in now. "Anakin, no. Give me some time to think about this." It was funny how odd those two words sounded in a sentence together…'Anakin' and 'no'.

Impulsively he leaned in and dragged her into a kiss, holding her in place until he was satisfied that the 'heat of his passion' may have softened her mood, disregarding of course, that is was his passions that had gotten him into this trouble in the first place.

It was probably the worst kiss she'd ever had to endure, horrible precisely because she had to endure it. He had her too close and too hard for her to break free, and she was afraid…she knew he was perfectly capable of forcing her into something like this, but she'd never imagined he would. It was rather horrifying to have actual physical proof of how little power she actually had over him…

He let go after what seemed like ages, and she took two hurried and belated steps out of his reach. "Anakin," she began again, "Give me a night alone. I need to think." She finished as adamantly as she could, given the circumstances.

Eyes far more hurt than they had right to be, he nodded at her, stepping back and away. "I'll see you in the morning, then." It was curt, and to the point.

She stood there, watching him, until she realized something. "Wait a moment!" She called, trying to stiff up her resolve not to just ask him to hold her so she could forget all this damned conflicting emotion.

He turned, hopeful, wondering if this had been some sort of head game. "Yes?" It was difficult, but not impossible, to keep this from his voice… but not from his eyes.

She unclasped the chain of the diamond, dropping it into his outstretched hand. "I wouldn't want to lose it." It came out with more finality than she had planned, which was painful.

His eyes dropped from hers, and he walked off to the palace tinged shades of moonstone in the half-light, refusing to look over his shoulder at her.

She watched him go, waiting until he had disappeared inside, before collapsing to the sand. Burying her face in her hands she cried in small, gasping sobs, pent up emotions of all kinds escaping in one flood-like torrent.

That was how she slept as well, curled on her side in the cloak, cheeks still wet. The moon had slipped above the silky waves by now, to shine on her, but her eyes had closed unheeding.

- - -

As much as she may have suspected differently, Anakin slept alone that night as well. He'd not returned to the ballroom, preferring to keep his misery and failure to himself, knowing all too well that Obi-wan knew exactly what was going on.

As careless as he may have been that evening, too sure of himself, his padawan and having had too much to drink, he was not so careless as to not post a guard outside the doorway, watching as she slept there alone on the beach. The Resistance was too active here to get complacent.

He would get little sleep as it were, brooding, and he did not need to add further worry.

- - -

When Katie snapped awake sometime in the wee hours of the morning, it was not due to sunlight, birds or a desire to actually be awake, so much as that sixth sense The Force allowed her. She lay there, barley breathing and eyes closed, feeling the presence of some six people close in around her… Tensing and taking a deep breath, she waited for it.

She was not disappointed, as rough hands grabbed her and someone thrust a rag into her face. Knowing fully well what that, and the probability of chloroform, meant, she kept from any physical struggles, and instead used her energy to begin choking (or crushing, her aim was off) the nearest pair of abductors. She missed the rag-holder, and the others were obviously experienced, as the two that dropped did not make any difference.

_Shit_, she thought rather disjointedly, running out of air. _Bet he'll be sorry now_, being the last coherent thing on her mind as she lost the fight to hold her breath, breathed in, and fell into the storied blackness.


	35. Chapter 35: Ask The Lonely

Obi-wan reached for the door, hand raised to knock, and instead nearly rapped Mel on the nose as she preemptively opened it. They had the routine down pat, and she'd sensed him anyway.

It was a nice, comradely silence as they made their way to the beach, each thinking their own thoughts. The morning dueling was the best way to wake up in Mel's opinion. She always lost, obviously, but he had to try more and more often, instead of just fluffing her off.

But this morning neither of them were _quite_ their normal light-hearted selves, what they knew and what they didn't about the fiasco of the night before uncomfortable.

Mel had distanced herself, stalking him, when she unexpectedly missed the ground, and slid down the side of the small sand dune. Regaining her balance, with an air of pretending it had all been intentional, she looked about at the dip she'd fallen down, where it leveled to the sea.

Altogether it would have been a rather pretty scene in the early-morning sun, all glittery and shining, had not something been so very drastically wrong. There was a cloak, vaguely familiar in its anonymity, lying trampled in sand marred by scuffled footsteps.

This would have been intriguing enough, but not nearly as alarming, had not there been a pair of bodies. One's head was twisted at recognizably unnatural angle, the other's face streaked with blood as his chest had been compressed nastily, snapping ribs and puncturing organs.

"Obi-wan!" she called, loud as she dared, wanting his attention and no one else's, voice not prey to the creeping fear setting in…

He glided into place at the top of the dip, looking vaguely superior and all knowing. "Really, I thought you'd be better than such an old tactic…" His voice trailed off, half-grin replaced by a concerned seriousness.

"Its Katie, isn't it?" Mel commented, backing away from the bloody sand she'd been nearly standing on.

"I would assume so." He replied, feeling rather confusingly mixed emotions. First, he was rather happy that the girl hadn't gone and slept with Vader last night, he was very concerned for her safety at the hands of what had to be the Resistance, he was concerned for his own safety at the hands of what would be a very put-out Vader, and he was concerned for Mel. This was not going to be fun for her either…

"What do we do?"

He sighed. "We tell him, get yelled at, and then hope it's for ransom." And his morning had started out rather well too… He hated his life sometimes, he really did.

- - -

Anakin was lounging about rather sullenly; dangling the diamond on its chain and watching it glitter in what light he permitted to penetrate the gloomy depths of his angst. He wasn't in a foul mood so much as unstable, as likely to fly off the handle as to laugh until he cried. The self-imposed loneliness had been oppressive with guilt, and as much as he thought they were both overreacting such an altercation after so long in general peace… it was simply stunning in comparison. He had not gotten much sleep, unaccustomed to the emptiness beside him

So he was not in the right frame of mind for visitors when the knock came. "No." he called imperiously, as if presuming to know what they had come for. "Leave me."

"Open the door." Obi-wan's voice was by nature was less imperious, though the gravity replacing his usual cheer was chilling.

Anakin, more out of wishing for someone to blame, complied. He hid the necklace first, however, not wanting his brooding to be seen as weakness. "What is so important that it could not wait until after breakfast?" he was even less happy when it truly turned out to be Obi-wan interrupting him.

Mel lurked uncomfortably behind Obi-wan, feeling out of place. She was really only there as a sort of insurance, and so had no expected role except that as witness.

"With you there, he won't be able to get really mad at me, because then he'd have to kill you too, and then Katie wouldn't particularly like that," Was his theory.

Obi-wan did not give any more time for suspense, and was rather blunt about it all. "It's Katie. She's been taken by the Resistance."

"What?" Anakin did not sound angry, nor afraid just yet, only sharply uncomprehending.

Obi-wan relayed the story in its entirety, such earnest seriousness nearly out of character. He seemed genuinely concerned, which should not have been unusual, though Mel had a sense that it was due to some big-picture reason of his own.

Anakin took it as well as could be expected, more disbelieving than anything. This was precisely why he's bothered to set out a guard… only he seemed to have lost this game of roulette, and had picked the traitor. The man was lucky he'd run off with the rest, else he'd be dying the worst, slowest death Anakin could devise…

"Well, what are you waiting for?" he spoke at last, having lapsed into silence, the others looking at him expectantly. "Get me the governor of this hellhole. We're going to find her." The ending 'and they are going to learn the meaning of pain' was unspoken, but understood by all. There was a penalty to pay for angering the Empire, and he was going to have fun enforcing it.

Of course, the odds of Katie actually _surviving_ being used as such a high-stakes bargaining chip was not mentioned either.

- - -

Mel waited until they had left the chamber before turning to Obi-wan, opening her mouth to speak.

He held up a hand, shushing her before she had chance to utter a sound, waiting… and then he heard it, the sound he'd been waiting from. From inside the other room they could hear a muffled crashing shatter, as though something porcelain and expensive had exploded. "I knew it…" he murmured to himself. It would be better if he and Mel were the only ones to relay messages, anyone more expendable and bearing bad news would likely find their head exploding in the vase's stead. "But yes?"

"How exactly are they going to try to find her?" Mel asked, unfamiliar with what would undoubtedly be a high-tech method of detection.

He quirked a sardonic half-smile. "The hard way: by hand. Most locals can only be trusted to be Resistance, and if they mean any sort of business, which they must, they'll be cloaked. Somewhere in the forest most likely, though that just makes things even more difficult." He swept along the curving, slate-colored halls, with her unceremoniously in tow.

Mel followed quietly, thinking to herself. How was it that the _only_ hostage for which Vader actually gave a damn had been out in the open, when the only guards possible to be present had been spies without some sort of deeper connection? And why had it been that the only time Vader had ever looked at another woman in public so (at least as far as she knew; it was impossible to know when this clandestine relationship had even begun) was somewhere with such perfect conditions? Obviously it had been a real inside job, with someone close enough to the top to arrange all this…

Struck by a momentary paranoia, she shivered. She was fairly sure Obi-wan was Resistance… could he have been involved? It was a deeply unsettling thought, and she shoved it away for a later, less charged time.

- - -

Katie, when she finally awoke, had an absolutely _awful_ case of dry-mouth. Of course, that wasn't the first thing she noticed. _That_ was the fact that she couldn't breathe.

Gasping and choking, she hacked herself back into reality. Something was tight about her neck, and something else was keeping her from breathing in all the way… Her eyes were open, but the expanse of character-less sand beneath her knees that was all she could focus on was no help.

In the midst of yet another labored breath, she realized something far more unsettling then that. She didn't fill her skin any more! What ease of movement, breath and power she had experienced since leaving the static of her homeland was gone_, as was The Force!_

Snapping her head up, breathing finally under control, she glared about at the myriad of milling men about this makeshift-looking camp. It was deep inside some coastline forest, trees vaguely reminiscent of palms. But the only real thing of interest was the man, looking entirely too pleased with himself, who was watching her rather intently. She tried to sit up straighter, but was hindered by the fact that not only had her hands been bound behind her back, they had been laced up her forearm, forcing her elbows to touch behind her back, sending lancing pains up her shoulders as she tried to move.

Her feet and mouth were free, but he was unconcerned. Jedi and their ilk were all the same… take away their Force, their power, and all the fight went out of them. The culprit of this was the grey steel band around her neck, divided through with a LCD screen, upon which a square of blue light scrolled.

He looked the average human male in his early thirties, well muscled, skin and hair dark brown. His open vest was orange, and it only brought out the tawny in his eyes. He was André, leader of the Resistance sect of Alderraan Five, and he had just scored the luckiest break of his entire life.

He grinned at her, locking eyes. The brief flash of anger in her eyes was fading to fear, as she realized just how deep in she was.

"Welcome to the Resistance," He commented, overly dramatic to a degree worthy of such a cliché. "I trust you'll enjoy your stay here."

Had she not already been seized by a creeping dread, that shark-like, pirate grin would have done it.


	36. Chapter 36: Some Kind Of Angel

Mel swung her feet back and forth, back and forth, dangling them off of the table she'd claimed as her own. She was a rather pointless addition to this un-meeting, as she had absolutely nothing polite to say, but there really hadn't been anywhere else to go.

No one else seemed any happier, which was at least understandable. Obi-wan seemed somewhere between bored, exasperated and concerned, and looked ready to simply throw up his hands and walk out of the room.

Vader simply looked angsty, but there wasn't any surprise there. The governor (a large, beefy man with the telltale redness of a whisky devotee) seemed more concerned to how this would affect Alderraan's stance in the Empire's eyes, and whether there was any way he could smooth things over before the choice was made to eliminate them. He was pressing the uncertainty; pointing out again and again how likely it was for the girl to be in another system entirely. Obviously, this wasn't going over well.

Terryal, whose inclusion seemed almost as pointless as Mel's own, looked weirdly impassive, as though it didn't matter either way if Katie was ever found. He seemed to have been intended as a moderating factor, (though Mel did have to acknowledge his importance) but it really didn't seem to be working out. Rather, his impassivity, the indifference, seemed to be irking Vader even more than anything else. Of course, there always could have been another factor at play that Mel was not informed of, some dynamic she did not know to recognize.

However, these musings were pervaded by a sense of boredom tinged with a guilt that ruined any sort of enjoyment in them. She couldn't help but feel almost jealous of the 'adventure' her friend was getting, though feeling so was indescribably selfish, and more than a little stupid. So all in all she was in hardly a better mood than anyone else was, and it looked like it was going to stay that way.

"Now, you're really being unreasonable…" The Governor tried to convince as gently as he could, though his eyes held deep, self-centered concern.

"I am being _perfectly_ reasonable." Vader replied in the sort of scary-calm voice that made it impossible to believe so. It didn't help that he generally looked somewhat deranged in the morning, and even more so without sleep.

"You're both perfectly insane." Obi-wan declared, throwing up his hands while rolling his eyes rather theatrically.

"I second the motion," Mel replied with emphasis, and perhaps a little too loudly. All eyes turned to her, and she realized at the wrong moment that this was a perfectly fine statement for Obi-Wan, because he was, in fact, Obi-Wan. But coming from a padawan, and, in Vader's eyes, a rather useless one at that, this became something of an extremely nasty insult.

Vader sent her a look of imperial annoyance that screamed her not being good enough for him to actually glare at. "**You**. This is **your** fault." _She_ was the target he needed for all this pent-up stress. Why, he wouldn't put it past her to have been involved, selling out her friend to the Resistance for that damned 'greater good'.

Everyone else in the room familiar with Vader had tensed up, realizing the instability of the situation. The Governor, however, had relaxed some as the pressure was off him. If he made it through this he was planning to retire somewhere very far away…

Mel met his eyes rather recklessly, sick of being nice. Sick of being bored, being alone, and most of all sick of having to listen to him. "My fault? **I** wasn't the one groping a whore in front of her."

His look darkened, and anyone else would have backed off, fearing for his or her lives. But Mel was far too caught up in the drama, relishing a chance to finally break even. Interrupting whatever he was about to say she continued unreasoningly, "Besides, she would have left you anyway after she found out what happened to your last girlfriend."

At this Vader looked positively murderous, and she'd jumped dramatically 'Quick Death' to ' Very Lengthy Torture' in his plans. Ripping out her lungs via her eye sockets was looking rather appealing… "**You listen here**-"

Obi-wan, preferring his padawan in one piece and breathing, wasn't about to let this happen. "You won't touch her."

There was a brief but complete silence, more of a standoff than a truce. Vader looked somewhat surprised at Obi-wan's interference, and (if possible) even more supremely pissed off, the Governor looked as though he thought this thrilling entertainment, and Terryal just watched, blinking cold-bloodedly.

Mel, all wounded pride and injured dignity, wasn't about to let her Master get involved. Grabbing the lightsaber off of his belt as rashly as it is possible to do so, she turned to glare at Vader. "Watch him try." She declared with all the aplomb such fighting words deserved, striking a rather heroic pose.

Vader was not amused in the least. With something of a painful thump everyone else in the room flew to the wall, pinned there and leaving Mel standing alone. "Oh, you're mine now…" He murmured in his best evil-villain sort of voice, half-grinning with anticipation.

Mel backed up a step, scared utterly shitless but loath to let him know. "But you _know_ it was your fault, don't you?" She continued, spitting insults to mask her very real terror. Some would have thought this Freudian, but all it accomplished was making Vader even angrier.

"You," he snarled, yanking the saber from her hand with Force. "Ruin _everything_." This was something of a stupid line, but he'd never been as good as Obi-wan in thinking up dramatic dialogue on the spot.

Mel would most likely have replied as smartly as before, had she not been driven to her knees by sudden excruciating pain. Every blood vessel in her body had suddenly pressurized, pressing against her cells. Her head was throbbing with this force, her eyes feeling as though they were about to burst from her face, and her skull to explode. She screamed once, before the pain in every square inch of flesh became too much.

For the first time that day Vader _smiled_, watching her kneeling with the pain at his feet. "Do you have any idea how much I've wanted to do this ever since I met you? All you've done is get in my way. Too stupid to know when to just shut up. So wrapped up in your Code you think you're a hero." Finally he had a chance to properly communicate his feelings for the girl. If it hadn't been for Obi-wan she'd have already been dead. "You don't deserve to live." Yes, he was at last going to get to kill her, as slowly and as painfully as he could manage. And, what a bonus, he could make Obi-wan watch…

Mel, drama and melodramatic cliché as much a part of her as her bones and blood, managed to raise her head to look at him. "I'd rather die pretending to be a hero than live knowing I'm a coward." With that she dredged up the last dregs of her Force, flinging a small vase at his head.

He dodged and it shattered into a million crimson pieces against the far wall. This took barely a second but it was distraction enough for Obi-wan to free himself, and to yell, "She knows!"

Vader looked at him, puzzled but still fairly calm given the circumstances.

"She knows!" Obi-wan called again, scrambling for words. He hadn't really had time to think this out first.

"Knows _what?_" Vader really didn't want to be playing games just now thinking that this had better be good. Mel looked from one to the other, trying to comprehend what going on. The pain had lessened a few degrees, but it was still light-years from tolerable.

"She knows where Katie is!"

This statement had rather the opposite effect than as intended, as Vader's eyes flashed anew and Mel convulsed in a new wave of pain. "Then why didn't she say anything?" He inquired with forced calm, watching her writhe.

"Because… the meeting had just started and all… I had been about to bring it up…" Obi-wan tried to say, scrambling for words. Mel, getting the gist of the conversation, forced her eyes upward to Vader's, and nodded rather pathetically.

The pain in her veins vanished, as he slammed her to the wall hand on her throat. "You let them take her, didn't you?" He snarled quietly, eyes slitted. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't just kill you now…"

"Because then she wouldn't be able to tell you where Katie is," Obi-wan interjected rather logically. Only Mel would have been able to hear the fear in his voice, had she not been preoccupied.

"Take your padawan to the holding cells." Vader commanded, flinging Mel some ten feet to the door, and pushing Obi-wan after. "You have an hour to get the information from her. If she doesn't break by then… I'll torture her myself." Slamming the door in their faces, he looked as though he hoped she'd last the hour.

Obi-wan heaved a great sigh, though it was certainly not one of relief. Gathering up his half-conscious padawan in his arms, he started off for the holding cells.

"What was that about?" she murmured, unable to focus on any his spinning six heads properly.

"Saving your life. But only for an hour."


	37. Chapter 37: Everybody's Fool

Katie was rather unaware of the havoc caused by her disappearance, though whether or not she got the better end of the deal remained to be seen. True, she was not being tortured or threatened (yet, at least), but nor was she having any fun.

After giving her his whole canned 'sketchy abductor' speech André had pretty much left her alone, and was off discussing strategy with some of his officers. She couldn't hear a word of what was going on, and it wasn't like there was anyone to talk to. Rather than work herself up stressing over things she could do nothing about, she leaned against the vaguely foreign palm tree, and closed her eyes. Maybe if she meditated, or tried to, she'd figure out a way to get around this Force-block thing.

She'd barely finished clearing her mind when something hit her on the nose. Snapping her eyes open, she found a rather amused looking person grinning at her, holding a small pile of pebbles like the one he'd thrown at her. He was a dark as everyone else, looking like what she would have called a mulatto, and looked as though he was the sort to enjoy another's distress.

"You're not very interesting, are you?" he asked idly, looking vaguely disappointed, and not far older than herself.

"What?" she asked confused.

"You're not being very interesting. Most times, they start crying or whining for us to release them by now."

She shrugged, not liking being an object of interest and not really wanting to 'fraternize with the enemy'. "I'm too important for you to let me go just because I cried. So it would be pointless." She was rather hoping for this strange Rebel person to tell her that no, crying and whining would work just fine.

He shrugged in return. "I guess so…" He hadn't quite expected her to take up on that so fast, being a girl and all, but he supposed that Jedi had to fairly intelligent.

This thrilling and deeply invigorating conversation was interrupted by faint yells of triumph. Katie looked around, confused, but he answered her unspoken question for her. "They found a searcher… now this is going to be interesting."

She shivered, not really liking the ominous overtones in that innocent phrase. She was not disappointed as something of a howling throng faded in through the trees, dragging a boy who could not have been much more than twelve.

"A local," The young man she'd been talking to clarified. "He was giving searchers directions. Apparently, they listened too well and walked into the scouts."

"What are they going to do to him?" She breathed; feeling utterly terrified for the boy and crushingly naïve.

"Pull out his fingernails and toenails, and probably skin him alive." He replied entirely emotionless. "It's standard for traitors."

Katie squeezed her eyes shut and tried to turn her head away, not wanting to watch, but he had grabbed her by the back of the neck. "Oh no, you're not getting off that easy." He muttered. "We have some questions to ask you, and you need to know the consequences."

It was then, helpless in the face of such brutality, that Katie realized they were going to kill her. No, not threaten, but honest-to-god slit her throat. And they'd enjoy it.

- - -

Obi-wan paced the length of the holding cell and back, trying desperately to think of a way out that did not leave him or his padawan dead or on the run. Yet now, when it was so very important, he found himself utterly idea-less.

It didn't help that Mel had fainted across the table, dead to the world. He didn't blame her, not at all; he'd been on the receiving end of Vader's anger more than once (far more) before.

She just looked so damn pathetic looking lying there… It was such a killer reminder of just how lonely he'd be without her. It was really sort of funny… he'd never actually wanted a padawan, not thinking himself fit to take charge of the health and welfare of another human being (just look at how his own life had turned out!). But then, she really wasn't much of a padawan anymore. That implied inferiority, and she was becoming too much of his friend to really be below him. He hadn't had the heart to tie her down, leaving her lying free on the steel table.

Sighing, he ran a nervous hand through his hair. And now she was going to die, once Vader got his hands on her. It was just such an awful shame…

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the cell door. "Yes?" he called, fighting down a wild panic at the thought of his hour being over already…

"Let me in." It was just Terryal, though he can't have been the bearer of any good news. He never was.

Obi-wan complied, shutting the door and locking it and keeping his feelings guarded. "You obviously have a reason for coming here." He offered as a way of greeting, not in the mood for this. "What is it?"

Terryal gave a long, low sigh. "I have something very important to tell you."

"Then get on with it already. I'm a bit pressed for time, as you must know." Obi-wan did not exactly snap, though he was not pleased.

"I'm the informant you're looking for, and I know where Katie is."

There was something of a silence, as Obi-wan processed that comment. "_You?_" He'd always considered Terryal as a rather sketchy sort, the kind of person that one could never quite be sure of the motives of. But he'd never thought that Terryal would lean towards the Resistance, which tended not to reward those with selfish motives.

"Yes, me." Terryal replied, patiently waiting for Obi-wan to figure out the rather spectacular mess that he'd created.

Obi-wan, on the other hand, was really wishing that for once in his life someone would just come up to him and hand him a nice, neat solution in a box. Unfortunately, this wasn't going to be that easy. And why did it always have to be him 'saving the day'? Why couldn't someone else make some of the hard decisions for him for once? Where had he gotten such shitty karma? Hell, he wasn't old enough for this.

Sending a rather despairing look towards his unconscious and entirely unhelpful padawan, Obi-wan turned back to Terryal (whom was still looking at him expectantly). "What do they want? _Why_ are they bothering?"

"They're hoping for a hefty ransom." Terryal replied as though this should have been exceedingly obvious.

"There has to be more than that!" It really had not taken Obi-wan long to realize that the Resistance was little less money-oriented than the Empire, though he labored against the disillusionment.

"There is. The exchange is going to be done by one of their own, and as soon as they get the money she gets a knife between the ribs." Terryal revealed this with an entirely straight face, as though it did not matter to him that she was a (relative) innocent.

Obi-wan took this in and glared at Terryal. "Do you have any idea how much you've screwed things up? Now they'll _both_ end up dead if I don't manage to _miraculously_ pull something out of my _sleeve_. And then where will we be? Right back to where we were months ago, and minus two perfectly viable Jedi."

"Two?" Terryal asked lightly, raising an eyebrow and giving Obi-wan a rather patronizing look.

Obi-wan's glare deepened. "This is why I liked it better when all you did was skulk in the shadows. Just tell me where she is, and I'll see what I can do to clear up _your_ mess." Cutting off the smart reply, he continued in an entirely threatening, nearly Vader-esque way. "**You** are going to stay here, and tell him that I'm off saving his girlfriend, and keep him from torturing my padawan. Or he really will find out who turned traitor. So unless you want the longest, most tortuous death imaginable, you are going to guard her with your life." There was a short silence. "Not that it's worth much, anyway."

- - -

So Terryal was not in the most of relaxed moods when, some fifteen minutes later, the inevitable Imperial Knock came at the door. Opening said reinforced door with more than a little trepidation, he gave the requisite half-bow.

"Where is Obi-wan?" Vader demanded almost immediately, upon seeing his 'Advisor's' absence.

"Following up on the girl's information," Terryal replied as respectfully as possible, not wanting to be the not-so misguided target of what would be a very fatal anger.

"Why did he go alone?" He inquired again, slightly less demandingly.

"Because she would only tell him," Terryal replied logically. "She was rather willing to tell on that one condition, to avoid your lordship's anger." Being of rather high rank himself Terryal rarely used such formal titles, but now seemed like a good time to start.

Vader did not reply, though he eyed Terryal suspiciously. There was something very wrong with this situation, and he did _not_ appreciate it.


	38. Chapter 38: Tension

Obi-wan's mood had not improved much by the time he was escorted into the camp, though he'd been treated overbearingly politely. The Rebels had recognized him, as they should, though he'd had a few tense moments with one particularly trigger-happy fellow before he had been officially declared 'safe'.

He'd met André before, albeit briefly, and had disliked him almost immediately, finding the other man to be boorish, rude and something of a megalomaniac. André had in turn found Obi-wan aloof and pretentious, and more than a little soft.

The rest of the band was alright, giving him the wide berth he deserved, being _the_ Obi-wan, and the _only_ Resistance member among the top officials (Terryal, for all the power he had, did not quite count. It was only Obi-wan that managed to be something of a spy, and be protected by the Emperor himself).

Katie had lapsed into a sort of permanent silence, curled up against her tree and ignoring the rest of the world. Partially it was supposed to be defiance, but most of it was just trying to keep from throwing up at that most lovely display of gratuitous violence. Hearing the commotion she had looked up, and drew the only possible conclusion.

Finally managing to tear himself away from the rather overly zealous Rebels attempting to search him, Obi-wan turned to look for the girl that had been such a cause célèbre… and sighed inside. It was obvious, from the deep-seated glare she was giving him, and the way she'd gasped that she thought _he'd_ sold her out.

This was, of course, entirely correct. She simply didn't want to believe it, though it was so very impossible not to. How else had he gotten in so easily? How else would they know him by name? Why else would he be here, anyway? It's not like they were giving out free shiny stickers to the tenth visitor.

But, how it hurt to think so! As stuffy and overly honorable as she'd found him, Katie had never _actively_ disliked him, and if he was involved, who was to say that Mel was not?

Obi-wan had already resigned himself to something fairly close to hell, but why did she have to make this any more complicated than it had to be?

André eyed him suspiciously, not enjoying having such a hotshot Jedi invading what was _his_ domain. Obi-wan wasn't getting _any_ of the credit for this, oh no. "So, what brings you down from the palace? Tired of the caviar and loose women?"

Obi-wan did not look amused, though it would take a great deal to do so in the circumstances. "Do you have _any_ idea of what you've done?" André had never borne the brunt of a true Obi-wan lecture, and it was finally time. "You gain nothing from this! Nothing! Its just blood money! And since when has the Resistance sunk so low as to go after innocents? It's not her fault! She had nothing to do with this, and you've made her a pawn in the kind of game everyone loses." Each time André opened his mouth to make a comment; Obi-wan cut him off. "The _Empire_ does that, going after loved ones. If we bring ourselves to their level, what do we win? Nothing!" he was in full-blown rant mode now. His voice never rose above the most civil sort of yell, but he managed to keep everyone's attention nonetheless.

"How much are they paying you?" André inquired, breaking the momentum of the rant.

Obi-wan recoiled, as though he'd been slapped. "What?"

"How much is the Empire paying you?" André repeated, straight-faced and deadly serious.

Obi-wan did not reply right away, grappling with the overwhelming desire to hit André very, very hard. "You have no idea what you're talking about. When was the last time you had to deal with anyone other than these backwater guerillas?" Taking a deep breath, he exhaled through his nose, trying to keep himself under control. This was just the icing on the cake for one shitty day, alright… "Have you ever met Lord Vader, André?" Taking the silence for the negative it was, Obi-wan continued in that vein. "I must coexist, on an hourly basis, with just the egotistical, authoritarian power-maniac that would love to be disemboweling you right now. I have to tread lightly with him, fulfill both my Imperial and Resistance duties, manage my padawan… and still have enough brain power left to look The Emperor in the eye and lie." As much as blowing up wasted precious time and energy, it made him feel so much the better to know that he could do it without throwing anyone against some walls (however much he'd like to make an exception of the arrogant André). "I'd like to see you try."

André was undaunted, as few are after one of the patented 'Obi-wan Rants'. "Why do you bother to hide? You live with him; you could end this all so very easily-"

"No I can _not_!" Obi-wan protested. "Sure, I might (_might_) be able to kill of Vader before someone offs me, but there's no guarantee. And even if I do? Well, he's replaceable and then the Resistance loses all contact. If you want the Empire to fall, the Emperor must go first."

"What do we have _now_? All **you **are is a potential liability. You were too closely involved-"

"Are you insinuating I'm _protecting _him?" Obi-wan exclaimed incredulously. "I don't care what they did to your sister, André, you need to calm down! No one wants this over more than I. But at least right now everything is stable. The Resistance has not been surprised once, and the evil we know is better than the evil we don't. Vader can be manipulated. In fact, you ruined our best chance at an advantage! There was the perfect opportunity to turn his padawan against him, but no! You have to abduct her. Think she'll ever help us now? He accused, pointing at Katie.

"Is that why you came? To belittle me? To steal my thunder?" André snapped, crossing his arms across his chest, obviously unhappy.

"No." Obi-wan replied, assuming a similar position. "I came for the girl."

André snorted. "You think I'm going to trust **_you_** with the most valuable hostage ever taken by the Resistance?"

"You were planning an exchange. **I** am working the exchange." Obi-wan reached into his voluminous layers, retrieving a bag that clinked. "I have you money," he revealed scornfully, still adhering to the outdated notion that a resistance should work for ideals and warm fuzzy feelings, not gold.

André cracked a grin. "What makes you think I wouldn't just take the money?"

The air some ten feet around Obi-wan pressurized threateningly. Obi-wan personally despised using The Force as a threat, but it had immense effect. "I'd like to see you try."

André skipped out of the sphere of influence, sneering. Looking Obi-wan in the eye, he continued on a note of the utmost importance. "But will you follow the plan?"

- - -

Cold steel pressed uncomfortably on the soft tissue of her inner wrists, and the ache of a spine held too straight pulled Mel back into consciousness. Carefully opening an eye, she found herself facing the proverbial blank wall. With a horrible, sinking feeling she turned the other way as slowly and unobtrusively as she could, dead certain that the hour (what hour? She wasn't exactly sure what had happened; everything after her comments a painful blur) was up, and that it meant something horrible.

The room was the usual hopeless industrial metal, harsh to the point of being medical. So the faintly blurry, stark green and black shapes that were Vader and Terryal stuck out sharply, and were undeniably _there,_ and so could not be ignored. Squinting at the brooding figures, Mel was sure she remembered something…

The Hour! Suddenly it hit her, and Mel stifled a cry. Obviously, the hour was up and Vader had come to torture her some more. But, where was Obi-wan? How could he have left her here, left her to some unspeakable torment? He couldn't have left to go save Katie, and so save Mel, because he couldn't know where to go because Mel didn't and couldn't have told him. Then why had he left? It was simply inexcusable! He was Obi-wan, her Master, her _friend_… And he'd abandoned her to die.

Merely having to face the (righteous? Never) anger of Vader would have shaken her only on the inside, she would not have allowed him to see her afraid (or would have tried, that is) if only she hadn't been so alone… shivering, she tried not to let an encroaching sense of panic overwhelm her.

Tiring of merely glaring prettily at Terryal, Vader turned away and noticed Mel's new position and obvious wakefulness. It wasn't like Obi-wan was actually there, and it would serve him right for taking so long if Vader just went and starting torturing Mel anyway… It would certainly make him feel better.

Mel, trying to avoid his eyes, bit at her lip. She really was screwed, wasn't she? Hardheadedly (perhaps) she still couldn't say that she regretted what she'd said. She only regretted that it meant she was going to be in pain for quite some time…

As much as she had prepared herself for the like, she was still not entirely ready for the assault on her senses as he let her know he knew she was awake. There was an exquisite bolt of pain in the back of her neck, as though a rather sadistic someone was threading a white-hot length of razor wire between the bones of her spine and her skull, up into her brain. It was limited to an extremely small area, but the pain was already enough to nearly swamp what defenses she had. Amazingly it surpassed the pain she'd felt earlier by some tenfold, something she found difficult to believe.

Biting her lip until it bled, Mel clenched and unclenched hands above steel bands, trying desperately to keep her mind off of the drilling. Heedless of the blood dripping down her chin, she screwed her eyes closed. Master or no Master, he was **_not _**going to see her cry!


	39. Chapter 39: Girl Can't Help It

Obi-wan did not comment as he half-led, half-dragged an extremely unwilling Katie to an outer, unguarded door. As he paused for a moment, leaning against blue sandstone walls, he wondered why someone so very… _simple_ could be the source of such turmoil and calamity.

Right now she was not looking at him charitably, having very nearly caused a mutiny as she'd been led off. Obviously she'd been too far to actually hear any of the argument, and so had no idea that he'd actually _defended _her.

"I'll have you know that I've put a great deal on the line to come and rescue you." He commented dryly, noting the expression on her face that seemed to mean something along the lines of 'I'm going to bite your hand no matter how much you damn feed me'.

"Why?" she asked, in the first (civil) word she'd spoken to him since they'd left André's camp.

"Because I think that T-the someone who put this in motion by paying the prettiest girl they knew of to seduce Vader was gravely mistaken." He replied, mostly truthfully. He probably would not have gotten involved so very early if Mel had not been on the line, but she did not know that. Yet. Rolling his eyes in exasperation at the derision on her face, he sighed. "I don't care if you like me, or if you bother trusting me. But I would greatly appreciate it if you would at least not make this any more difficult."

She kept her eyes guarded but nodded, as they were already there anyway. "Then can't you at least bother to untie me?" The lacing was rubbing her forearms raw, and her shoulders were screaming for release.

Obi-wan had not already done so for he had been trying to at least half-convince the backwoods Resistance militia that he would be following the plan of knifing her anyway, so as to keep them from following him (or at least, to keep the followers at a good distance). Shaking his head, he rapped impatiently on the door. Sure, it was unattended, but it was locked as well.

Rather unusually promptly one of the more intelligent-looking guards opened the door, suspiciously, only to look from Obi-wan to Katie, and back, exceedingly confused. "Should I inform Lord Vader of your return?" he asked, _graciously_ letting them in.

"No… I don't think so." Obi-wan commented, tongue in cheek. "I'd rather it be a surprise."

- - -

Katie did not look any more amused as when she finally was untied. They were in one of the plainer rooms of the palace, a medical ward room for routine procedures. Thus it had only a few expensive looking pieces of equipment on either side of the room dominated by a not so comfortable table, and the window was open instead of glassed in. Obi-wan had insisted upon said room for some reasons of his own, and was currently lounging in one of the corners, looking irritatingly amused.

Rubbing at her arms she did not pay much attention to what the two medics were doing, as they studied a small blood sample to make sure she hadn't been drugged or given some sort of slow-acting poison. The mechanisms used to do so beeped softly, and the collar pulsed its red slowly, and she found it all too quiet (or was it quiet because she was blocking it all out?). No one was trying to talk with her, or talk with each other, and aside from the mechanical noises she couldn't hear anything but the beating of her heart… And, below that, the pulsing in time of her own Force, locked away as it was. It was not quite the storied ball of flame but close, more of a well that she had not an idea as to the depth. She'd tried to use it, but it was like trying to swim to the surface when no matter in what direct you swam it was always to the bottom.

But in a way she was almost grateful that she could not access the power. She'd been almost uncontrollably angry, with her fear slowly dripping away to be replaced by it. Now, it had (settled down? inflated?) to a level that she was entirely in charge of… but it had started to scare her, all the same.

She was jolted back into the present as something very _cold _pressed against the back of her neck. "What?"

"Hold still." Was the curt response. Collars were designed to be nearly impossible to remove by their wearer, and so had no clasps. Instead, the two free ends were pressed over each other until they blended together, necessitating the controlled use of a laser to remove them.

She obligingly froze, not wanting to lose anything vital to such a silly mistake. As the laser cut through the last scant strip of metal holding the collar together, several things happened almost at once.

Katie's consciousness _broke_, _shattered_, and for a moment all was shards of color and light.

Both medics were slammed and held against the wall, (Obi-wan having already been standing conveniently next to one), and all the glass in the room exploded in a shower of sharp-edges pieces in the involuntary waves. The steel of the table buckled, and the other metals in the room warped.

There was a short silence after the chaos, the only sound the ragged heaves of her breathing. Slowly she let them down, and slid off of the table to stand.

Katie felt a great deal better now, much more like herself, and it was an almost delicious contrast to feel the fire in her veins she'd gotten to taking for granted. It was extremely liberating, though she'd been wearing the collar for a rather short period of time. But The Force had become such a fundamental, essential part of herself that having it back made all the difference in the world.

Looking up she made sizzling eye contact with Obi-wan, and the near grin faded from her face. It was probably insane to blame him, as he really had been the one to rescue her and all, but somehow she didn't believe that he wasn't involved. She hadn't had a chance to communicate her displeasure with André and his crew, but she could with _him_… Raising a hand to point, as though he might not quite understand who she was talking to, she snarled a simple, "You."

"Me." Obi-wan replied, quite cheerfully.

- - -

Vader had been rather happily watching Mel squirm with pain as the sensation worked its way up through her skull, when he sensed one of those proverbial 'disturbances in The Force'. He had not noticed Obi-wan return to the palace because he had spent a great deal of time trying to block out his aura, and so had been entirely oblivious until the _spill_ of power downstairs. It was a bit like there was a delicately balanced web of threads suspended in the air, and someone had grabbed a handful and _yanked_ on them, demanding some sort of attention. He stood there motionless for a moment; absorbed by the feeling… he _knew_ that aura. Without a word he strode purposefully from the room, as running would have been undignified.

- - -

Katie, halfway through a most unusual staring contest suddenly broke from his gaze, looking towards the door to the hallway, pensive. She'd obviously heard something… Dashing outside, she froze again, swamped by a set of emotions she could barely contain, much less understand. As much as she had been angry at him there'd been a few moments where she'd thought she'd never make it back… and more importantly she loved him, loved him more than she should.

He paused an arm's length from her, uncertain. He wanted nothing more than to have her in his arms, reassure himself that she was indeed alive, but would she have him?

Holding out her hand she took his, looking up at him with an entirely clichéd and beautiful expression of mingled love and angst. "I forgive you," she murmured, before the rest of her words were blown away by his embrace.

Clutching her to him, holding her tighter and harder then he'd ever before, Anakin buried his face in her hair. He'd been so worried… he'd never been able to save anyone else he loved, and had been terrified that he would not be able to save her this time either… "I love you," he managed, wanting to keep her there, in his arms, where she was safe, forever.

Obi-wan, slinking out of the door, gave the couple as wide a berth as possible. Giving them half a glance he looked away, almost glad that he could not see Vader's face. The emotion there would have scared him…


	40. Chapter 40: To Win A Battle

Obi-wan paused for a moment outside of the holding cell, apprehensive. Had he taken too long, and had Vader started torturing out of boredom? Was she even alive? It would make him exceedingly angry to have her expire after all this frantic work to keep her alive. He'd put on a rather good show downstairs, he felt, of acting as though he was not in some wild hurry to fulfill an arbitrary deadline and save his padawan. As much as he was, no one else needed to know. The last thing he needed was undue suspicion.

So he was more than a little relieved to see her breathing, even if it was in small painful gasps. "Melissa?" he inquired softly, tapping her on the shoulder gently when she did not respond to his presence.

The sudden absence of the pain in her head had been almost as worse as the continuity, leaving a hollow, aching void at the base of her skull. With something of a disgusting (she would have thought, had she been in the condition to) whimper, she opened her eyes, looking all to relieved to see him. "How did it go?" she whispered, voice hoarse with the bitten-back scream.

"Admirably." He replied, with a half-hearted smile. "Now let's get you somewhere a bit more welcoming," he commented, undoing the straps that had held her down.

She nodded at him, wincing as she sat up. Holding her head in her hands, she looked up at him. "But what does this mean? Who won?"

Her question caught him off-guard. Well, no one, really. The Empire had basically come out on top, all things considered, and Alderraan would most likely be eliminated for sheer irritation, but the Resistance had proved itself perfectly capable of holding its own. They'd picked their hostage well, by all counts, and had shaken Vader's resolve some, but in all reality had lost in the long run. What had been the _point_? Whoever had planned it had either been extremely short-sighted (and Obi-wan knew Terryal was not), or possessed of some secret agenda and seeing some larger picture Obi-wan could not (rater unlikely, he liked to think). And how had Terryal even come into contact with the Resistance? What had he hoped to accomplish, anyway? Increasingly, Obi-wan found himself wondering if there wasn't someone else behind Terryal's actions.

"Hm?" Mel inquired gently, headache receding somewhat, not wanting to ruin whatever train of thought he'd built.

"No one, really. It was a draw… a fairly stressful draw, but a draw nonetheless." Was his verdict, spoken with a finality he did not believe. Assisting her more because it made him feel better than because she needed it (though it was rather nice), he escorted her off to her room.

- - -

Had he been asked who he thought had won, Vader would have (rather obviously) asserted that he had. After all, she was just the next room over, showering and scrubbing the taint of the Resistance from her skin, alive and unharmed.

For the most part, the situation had been resolved rather neatly without him actually having to do anything, but he would need to 'have a discussion' with Obi-wan as to what exactly to do with that idiot padawan. He doubted now, being of a more reasonable mindset, that she'd played any instrumental part.

His musings, such as they were, were interrupted in the most pleasant way possible. Katie had emerged from the washroom draped in a long, but fairly thin towel, and was looking at him, eyes soft, puzzled but almost deferential.

He smiled at her, more than satisfied. _He_ had _her_, and that was the important part. The Resistance couldn't possibly have any idea how much they had shaken him, taking her. She had no idea, it was obvious, and he didn't want her too. Rather, he just wanted to take her in his arms now, hold her, and reassure himself it was for forever.

Not that thing weren't about to become a great deal more complicated. The Emperor had expressed interest in a meeting with the padawans, and had hinted at (not now, not soon, but not enough in the future not to worry) wanting to perform a formal examination (and if _he_ had any idea how much Vader felt for her, that would be the end of _that)._

Best part of that was, she had no idea how powerful she herself was. He'd felt it earlier, when she'd been released… _Flowers on a razor wire,_ he thought to himself in a rare poetic moment. Beautiful, fragile… but perfectly capable of making you wish you'd never touched her. And she had no idea. Reaching out to gently run his fingers along the line of her cheek, he- well, there wasn't a good word for it. It was not a smile, not kind enough for that, not happy enough to be a grin. Rather, the corners of his mouth lifted, and his eyes were somewhat warm, but it was impossible to escape his own intrinsic coldness.

_Oh, how he loved her_…


	41. Chapter 41: Lucretia, My Reflection

Obi-wan sighed to himself, finally letting his guard down. He was lounging in the window, it being glassless and the walls thick; drink in one hand, though he was not drinking it. Goddamn this had been one shitty day. Right about now he was feeling a draining mixture of exhaustion and utter relief, more at the continued existence of his rather unfortunate padawan, than because he himself was still living.

This was the reason why he was sitting there, morosely; contemplating far more than the usual (comparitvely) simple power struggles. Rather, it was his feelings he was in need of examining, and that was never a simple task. And never had it been more complex than now, what with far more than only his peace of mind on the line.

Oh, why must things be so complicated? Being a Jedi was supposed to eliminate uncertainty! The Code was supposed to provide answers! One was supposed to look at a problem, and either declare it beneath your interest, or definitely doable because you were, indeed, a Jedi Master.

And yet that only seemed to complicate matters. He wasn't much of a 'Master', in any sense of the word, not that he thought. He was barely old enough to be considered an adult, much less a Master, and most definitely not old enough for the power he had to wield now. It was not empowering to be the youngest in a room, only daunting. He put on a good front, a show of confidence in his maturity, in his power, but it still got to him. Why couldn't someone else take responsibility for once? Why was it him that had to put everything on the line, all the time? And yet he loved it, probably would be unable to live without it. He thrived on overbearing responsibility, or so it seemed. Or, at least it seemed so until it got dark at night, and he tried to go to sleep. That's when the walls started to creep in...

Or so it had been for quite some time. Why, before he'd gotten his padawan, he'd even considered simply throwing in the towel. Let someone else try to save the world for once. Let someone else watch their best friend die.

But Mel had changed that. Now he had a _reason_ to be noble, a _reason_ to push himself to balance his loyalties, a _reason_ to save the world. A reason to be the man he wanted to be.

Of course, that had all started out innocently enough. He'd merely wanted to be the role model for her that Qui-Gon had been for him, wanted to be the Master that he'd so sorely missed. Why? Sense of honor again. Any padawan of his, any padawan really, should deserve that, right?

Meeting Mel had changed that. He'd _liked _her, liked how sometimes she reminded him of himself, when he was her age (and sometimes reminded him of himself now), just liked her in general.

But how much of that had lasted? How long had it been before there was a more _personal_ reason for wanting her to see him as the Master he longed to be? He wasn't sure exactly, he had quite a talent for hiding things from himself when he wanted to, but it had been the events of today that had really driven the point home.

Point being of course, that he definitely did not want her gone. No, Obi-wan made a face here. He couldn't even be honest in his own head, could he?

Truth was, the loss of his padawan (he couldn't bring himself to actually think of her in other terms, could he?) would have affected him more than he would care to think of.

Was it…? Could he…? Her? These were questions he'd already answered for himself, but he refused to acknowledge the answers. Because they scared him, as much as it was a relief to know they were affirmed, as much as they thrilled him. As much as it was intoxicatingly pleasant, for so dangerous an emotion…

- - -

Feeling his heart beat beneath her cheek, Katie felt something very near perfect contentment. It had been a lovely two days (was it really two? Time had little bearing, and the shades were drawn tight enough that even the sunlight was no clue). So much had happened in so little a time, that it had been beyond 'nice' to have simply locked themselves in his rooms for the time being.

But even good things must come to an end, and even nirvana gets boring after a while. Sighing lightly, she moved to stand.

He let her, his peculiar morning-after smile smugly upon his face, watching her form as she stretched. Though this cat-like satisfaction dimmed some as she took a few tentative steps for the door. "What _are_ you doing, my love?" He asked, voice betraying none of his thoughts.

"I thought, as I never got a chance to prove to Mel that I was in one piece and all, I'd pay her a visit?" She asked him, biting her lip and looking slightly confused as to why she had to account for what was such a simple action.

He blinked at her, as though he was considering giving her permission. "No," he drawled in conclusion, beckoning her back into his hold.

"What?" Katie asked, looking ever more confused.

"Because I'm not letting you out of my sight until we're off of this ridiculous hellhole." Anakin replied. He'd wanted off immediately, but had been willing to delay the departure as he reacquainted himself with his padawan and made completely sure that she was unharmed.

Katie only blinked at him in response. She could understand why he might be reluctant to let her wander about, but she was a bit better prepared right now, being awake and all, and she was only going to Mel's room…

He looked at her, held an unnerving eye contact.

She gave a sigh, a small one, and settled herself beside him again, resting her head once again on his chest as his hand buried itself in her hair. Yawning, she did not see his smug smile return itself to his face, or the way he nearly purred in satisfaction.

Yes, she was _his_.


End file.
